The College of Humanities and Social Sciences is excited to announce that Hans Peter Schmitz has been appointed the inaugural Bob and Carol Mattocks Distinguished Professor in Nonprofit Leadership for the Department of Public Administration in the School of Public and International Affairs.
This distinguished professorship will support Schmitz as he teaches courses and conducts research focused on the work and social impact of nonprofits in local or global communities. It also underscores one of the college’s strategic priorities – to recruit and retain outstanding faculty.
“The Mattocks Distinguished Professorship enhanced our ability to attract a nationally and internationally recognized scholar and thought leader in the field of nonprofit management and leadership to our college,” said Deanna Dannels, dean of the college. “It also helps us maintain a position of national excellence, heighten the innovation surrounding our faculty’s teaching and research, and augment our students’ classroom experience.”
Schmitz joined the college faculty in August. He comes to the position with a wealth of academic, professional and research experience.
His research examines international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) and global advocacy focused on human rights, global health and economic equity. His most recent research explores the role of digital media and billionaire philanthropy in shaping the broader context of global activism.
Of his appointment, Schmitz said: “It’s a very humbling experience. I also appreciate having more resources to support students and advance nonprofit and philanthropy research.”
The additional resources will enable Schmitz to expand and accelerate his contributions to research and practice. He noted that his ongoing collaborative research on nonprofit board composition, for instance, will benefit from his ability to collect more data, expand the set of analytical tools, and develop the research results into a benchmarking tool for nonprofits to assess their board composition and practices.
He will also be involved in revising his 2020 book, Between Power and Irrelevance: The Future of Transnational NGOs. With his co-authors, Schmitz will examine recent changes affecting the sector and add relevant insights about the aftermath of COVID-19, the recent focus on social justice issues, and the growing pressure on INGOs to decolonize their organizational structures and practices.
“The purpose of this research,” he said, “is to better understand in what ways mission-driven activism can contribute to improved outcomes for the most disadvantaged population across the globe.“
Schmitz’s research has been published in numerous academic journals. They include Comparative Politics, International Studies Quarterly, Journal of Business Ethics, Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, Public Administration Review and Voluntas.
Before joining NC State, Schmitz was a professor of leadership studies in the School of Leadership and Education Sciences at the University of San Diego. He is also the co-founder and former research director of the Transnational NGO Initiative at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University.
Schmitz received a Ph.D. in social and political sciences from the European University Institute in San Domenico di Fiesole, Italy.
“I am looking forward to being part of a department emphasizing my areas of expertise, (public administration and international studies), meeting colleagues and sharing my interests, and working with students who are supporting the nonprofit sector in North Carolina,” he said.
An additional benefit, Schmitz noted, is that North Carolina universities have an ongoing partnership with universities of his German home state, Baden-Württemberg.
This distinguished professorship was established through a generous gift from NC State forest management alumnus Bob Mattocks and his wife Carol, a former member of the Nonprofit Institute External Advisory Board. The Mattocks have supported numerous university initiatives for nearly 45 years.
Key among them is the creation of the Bob and Carol Mattocks University Scholars Program, which for the past 13 years has awarded university-wide, merit-based scholarships to students with financial need from Eastern North Carolina. Other initiatives range from athletics and the Gregg Museum to the Institute for Emerging Issues.
