Prof Edoardo Ongaro

Professional biography

Edoardo Ongaro is Professor of Public Management at The Open University, UK.

His expertise is in comparative public administration and the public policy-public administration nexus, and he is widely knowledgeable of public management reforms in Europe and other regions of the world. His research focuses contextual influences and adaptation of public management practices to local circumstances.

Professor Edoardo Ongaro is Past President of EGPA (European Group for Public Administration), the leading learned society in Europe for public administration, public management and public governance studies, having served as EGPA President between 2013-2019. He is a Member of the Council of Administration of the International Institute of Administrative sciences (IIAS) and Vice President (International) of the UK Association for Public Administration (UKAPA).

Professor Ongaro has served in various academic and expert committees and has contributed to numerous international research projects. He is invited to present his research works in universities throughout the world as well as International Organisations like the OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) or the World Bank, and the European Commission. 

He is an editor of Public Policy and Administration, a journal of the UK Association for Public Administration (UKAPA). 

His works include: Religion and Public Administration: An Introduction (Elgar, 2023 – co-authored with Michele Tantardini); Strategic Management in Public Services Organizations: Concepts, Schools and Contemporary Issues (2022, 2^nd edition, Routledge, co-authored with Ewan Ferlie); Philosophy and Public Administration: An Introduction (Elgar, 2020 – 2^nd edition – also translated into Chinese, Italian and Spanish); Public Administration in Europe: The Contribution of EGPA (Palgrave, 2019, editor); The Palgrave Handbook of Public Administration and Management in Europe (Palgrave, 2018, co-edited with Sandra van Thiel); Multi-Level Governance: The Missing Linkages (Emerald, 2015 editor); and Public Management Reform and Modernization: Trajectories of Administrative Change in Italy, France, Greece, Portugal and Spain (2009, Elgar). 

Professor Ongaro holds a PhD from King's College London, an MPhil from The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), and MSc/BSc from Politecnico di Milano. He speaks English, French, Italian and Spanish.

Professor Ongaro is a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences and of UKAPA, the UK Association for Public Administration. 

Research interests

• Public Management

• Public Policy and Administration

• Comparative Public Administration/Comparative Analysis of Public Management Reform

• Strategic Management in Public Services Organisations

• Organisation of the Public Sector

• Management and Governance of European Union Institutions

• Multi-level Frameworks of governance and Intergovernmental Relations

Teaching interests

I teach a range of topics, at all levels of education (undergraduate, postgraduate, research seminars and PhD level, Continuing Professional Education, executive education). I have a long experience training current and prospective public managers and managers for the common good and the public interest.  

Impact and engagement

Main academic commitments and contribution to the field of Public Administration and Management:

• Member of the Council of Administration of the International Institute of Administrative Sciences

• Co-Editor of Public Policy and Administration, journal of the UK Joint University Council of the Applied Social Sciences – Public Administration Committee 

• Book Series Co-Editor ‘Policy, Institutional and Administrative Change’, Book Series of the publisher Edward Elgar

• Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences (FAcSS) of the United Kingdom

• Vice President (International) and Fellow of the UK Association for Public Administration

• Past President of the European Group for Public Administration (EGPA), the learned society for the study and practice of public administration, public management and the administrative sciences in Europe (President 2013-2019)