History
The Institute for Governmental Service and Research was established in October 2006 through the
consolidation of two organizations- the Institute for Governmental Service (IGS) and the Bureau of
Governmental Research (BGR). With more than six decades of public service to Maryland, IGSR has
consistently and successfully guided policy, improved operations, and institutionalized evidence-based
practices in partnership with local governments, state and federal agencies, and community
organizations. The Institute has also undertaken national research and technology initiatives to
strengthen government effectiveness and efficiency and to promote best practices. Moreover, hundreds
of Maryland elected and appointed officials avail themselves of professional and leadership
development classes through the Academy for Excellence in Local Governance program.
The following organizational timeline highlights IGSR’s history through the decades:
1940s |
| 1946 |
Improving the Government of Hagerstown
by Joseph Ray, Professor of Government and Politics at the University of Maryland
College Park (UMCP), is first publication in series,
Studies in Government and Public Administration |
| 1947 |
Improving the Government of Cumberland
by Professor Ray is second publication in
series |
| 1948 |
Bureau of Public Administration (BPA) is established in College of
Business and Public Administration for study and research in the problems of government;
Professor Ray is first BPA director; BPA adds seven new reports to
Studies in Government and Public Administration series |
1950s |
| 1950 |
Christian Larsen becomes second BPA director |
| 1953 |
BPA is renamed Bureau of Governmental Research (BGR); Don Bowen
becomes first BGR director |
| 1957 |
Franklin Burdette becomes second BGR director |
| 1958 |
Maryland Municipal League (MML) representatives meet with UMCP
President about creation of Municipal Technical Advisory Service (MTAS); MML transmits
resolution to create MTAS to UMCP; UM Board of Regents votes to include MTAS in budget
submission |
| 1959 |
MTAS begins operation as a division of BGR in College of Business
and Public Administration; Milton Millon, former City Manager of Aberdeen is first MTAS
director
|
1960s |
| 1964 |
Daniel Thompson becomes second MTAS director |
| 1965 |
MTAS begins providing services to counties and is renamed Maryland
Technical Advisory Service; BGR publishes 44th report in
Studies in Government and Public Administration series |
| 1969 |
Clarence Stone becomes third MTAS director |
1970s |
| 1974 |
BGR (including MTAS) moves to College of Behavioral and Social
Sciences (BSOS) |
| 1976 |
Davis Bobrow becomes third BGR director; Henry Eppes becomes fourth
MTAS director |
| 1979 |
Patricia Florestano becomes fifth MTAS director |
1980s |
| 1980 |
Charles Levine becomes fourth BGR director; MTAS moves from BGR
and BSOS to UM System Administration |
| 1981 |
MTAS is renamed Institute for Governmental Service (IGS); Patricia
Florestano is first IGS director |
| 1982 |
School of Public Affairs (SPA) begins operation; BGR moves to SPA;
Allen Schick becomes fifth BGR director |
| 1984 |
The Southern Consortium of University Public Service Organizations
(SCUPSO) presents its Annual Public Service Award to IGS at the Region V Annual American
Society for Public Administration (ASPA) Conference |
| 1986 |
Donald Norris becomes second IGS director |
| 1989 |
New UM campus, Maryland Institute for Agriculture and Natural
Resources (MIANR), is established; IGS and Maryland Cooperative Extension (MCE) move from
UM System Administration to MIANR; IGS becomes a unit of MCE; Brian Gardner
becomes third IGS director.
|
1990s |
| 1991 |
Barbara Hawk becomes fourth IGS director |
| 1993 |
MIANR dissolves; MCE (including IGS) moves to UMCP’s College of
Agriculture and Natural Resources |
| 1993 |
IGS Advisory Board is created; Catherine Riley becomes sixth BGR
director |
| 1996 |
Walter Broadnax becomes seventh BGR director |
| 1996 |
UM Center for Applied Policy Studies (UMCAPS) is formed in Division
of Research and Graduate Studies; Charles Wellford is UMCAPS director; IGS moves from MCE
to UMCAPS
|
| 1998 |
IGS Academy for Excellence in Local Governance begins operation;
BGR moves from SPA to UMCAPS; Faye Taxman becomes eighth BGR director
|
| 1999 |
IGS Water Resource Leadership Initiative begins operation; Small
Business Development Center (SBDC) and UM Center for Quality and Productivity (UMCQP)
join IGS and BGR in UMCAPS; IGS receives gubernatorial citation for decades of
outstanding service to Maryland's local and state governments
|
2000s |
| 2002 |
Robin Parker Cox becomes fifth IGS director |
| 2004 |
Division of Research splits from Graduate Studies; Robin Cox
becomes BGR interim director to consolidate BGR with IGS; UMCQP dissolves; Environmental
Finance Center (EFC) moves from UM Center for Environmental Science to IGS |
| 2006 |
IGS and BGR consolidation is approved under new name, Institute for
Governmental Service and Research (IGSR); EFC moves to National Center for Smart Growth
Research and Education |
| 2007 |
IGSR and the University of Baltimore’s Schaefer Center for Public
Policy co-host the annual meeting of the Southern Consortium of University Public Service
Organizations (SCUPSO) in Baltimore. |
| 2008 |
Academy for Excellence in Local Governance celebrates its tenth
anniversary at a luncheon with Governor Martin O’Malley as keynote speaker. |
