On May 13, on-site final evaluation and award ceremony of the third Xia Shuzhang Public Management Excellent Doctoral Dissertation Award was held in Swasey Hall of Sun Yat-sen University. Prof. He Wensheng, also the Dean of LUSM, was invited to be the expert of the final evaluation, and Dr. Guan Bin, a senior research fellow of LUSM, was shortlisted for the final evaluation defense. After fierce defense with 9 doctoral candidates from Tsinghua University, Renmin University of China, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and Sun Yat-sen University, Dr. Guan Bin was awarded the nomination award for the third Xia Shuzhang Public Management Excellent Doctoral Dissertation. Prof. Bao Guoxian won the Outstanding Advisor Award for the third time.

Mr. Xia Shuzhang is one of the main founders and outstanding pioneers of public management in New China, and a highly respected academic leader in the fields of public management and political science across the country. At the award ceremony, Mr. Xia Shuzhang, who is 105 years old, came to the event site to take a photo with the guests, award-winning teachers and students. This year’s reviewed papers covered doctoral disserations in public administration from institutions on the Chinese mainland with doctoral degrees from Jan 1, 2020 to Aug 31, 2022. After strict on-site anonymous preliminary review, anonymous communications external review, and on-site final review, a total of 10 doctoral graduates from 5 institutions were shortlisted for the final review, including 5 from Tsinghua University, 2 from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 1 from Renmin University of China, 1 from Sun Yat-sen University, and 1 from Lanzhou University.

Prof. Xue Lan, convener of the Public Administration Assessment Group of the Academic Status Office of The State Council, senior Professor of liberal arts of Tsinghua University and Dean of Schwarzman Scholars of Tsinghua University, chaired the Expert Committee of the Final Evaluation Committee. Dean He Wensheng and 9 authoritative experts from Chinese Society of Public Administration, Tsinghua University, Peking University, Renmin University of China, Wuhan University, Sichuan University, Xi’an Jiaotong University served as the experts of the final evaluation committee.

It is said that the “Xia Shuzhang Public Management Excellent Doctoral Dissertation Award” was established in 2017 and held every two years, which is currently the highest public management dissertation award in China, with the highest influence, attention, bonus and appeal. It aims to explore and reward outstanding doctoral dissertation in public management, and educate excellent academic talents for the modernization of the national governance system and capacity. This award has been held for three times. In the three consecutive years, a total of four doctoral candidates from LUSM and Research Center for Chinese Government Performance Management were shortlisted for the final evaluation stage and won awards, which fully demonstrates the education quality of these two units and LZU’s academic influence of the discipline of public administration.