Press Release

Providence Service Corporation establishes chair in public management

H. Brinton Milward, School of Public Administration and Policy director, awarded academic honor

TUCSON, Ariz. – OCTOBER 13, 2006 – The Providence Service Corporation in Tucson, Ariz., led by chairman and CEO Fletcher McCusker, will fund a new chair in the Eller College of Management’s School of Public Administration and Policy. The Providence Service Corporation Chair in Public Management will support ongoing research into what is called “collaborative management,” as well as the training of managers who will be able to thrive in an economy in which public, private, and nonprofit sectors jointly deliver public services.

Eller College dean Paul Portney has named H. Brinton (Brint) Milward, associate dean and director of Eller College’s School of Public Administration and Policy, as the first faculty member to hold the Chair. Milward is an international leader in public management research and is best known for his contributions in the areas of collaborative networks, privatization, and mental health policy. In September 2005, he was named a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration, and was the first president of the Public Management Research Association. Milward and his colleague Keith Provan recently authored a handbook for government and nonprofit officials entitled A Manager’s Guide to Choosing and Using Collaborative Networks, which was funded by a grant from IBM.

Commenting on the significance of the gift, Portney said “We are grateful for the generosity and vision of Fletcher McCusker and the Providence Service Corporation. Fletcher understands first-hand the convergence of the public sector, nonprofit organizations, and commercial enterprise, and his support will help the College integrate leadership education across these areas.”

McCusker is a graduate of The University of Arizona and Arizona State University. His experience in human services spans 39 years. After serving as Chief Operating Officer of Youth Services International and Century Healthcare, and CEO of Introspect Healthcare, McCusker founded Providence Service Corporation in 1996 to capitalize on the trend for government entities to outsource human services to the private sector. McCusker took the company public in 2003 and has strategically expanded the range of social services provided to encompass everything from health care to probation supervision

“Our support of the Eller College efforts in public management is designed to enhance the curriculum and strengthen the research on the privatization of social services. Most university programs do not address this national trend,” said McCusker. Having worked in all three sectors — public, private, and nonprofit — McCusker recognizes the importance of the research being done at the College’s School of Public Administration and Policy on collaborative networks that cross the sector boundaries.

About Providence Service Corporation
The Providence Service Corporation, a NASDAQ publicly traded company, was founded in 1996. Providence has a market capitalization of over $350 million and has been ranked by BusinessWeek as one of America’s hottest companies for the past three years. It is ranked in the top 40 in the U.S. for sustained growth and return to shareholders and has been identified as one of the 100 fastest growing companies in America by BusinessWeek, and one of Inc. Magazine’s Top 500 Companies

The Eller College of Management at The University of Arizona is internationally recognized for pioneering research, innovative curriculum, distinguished faculty, excellence in entrepreneurship, and social responsibility. U.S.News & World Report ranks the Eller undergraduate program #12 among public business schools and five of its departments are among the top 25 — Entrepreneurship, MIS, Marketing, Management and Organizations, and Accounting. The MPA program in the School of Public Administration and Policy ranks in the top 50. Financial Times ranks the Eller MBA full-time program #27 in the U.S. and #57 in the world, and Forbes ranks the program among the top 50 nationwide. The College leads the nation’s business schools in generating grant funds for research. In addition to a full-time MBA program, the Eller College offers an evening MBA program, and the Eller Executive MBA. The Eller College of Management supports more than 5,100 undergraduate and 600 graduate students on the UA campus in beautiful Tucson, Arizona.

Press Contact:
Liz Warren-Pederson, Eller College of Management
520.626.9547, news@eller.arizona.edu