Frank P Sherwood

Frank P. Sherwood, a distinguished scholar and professor in the field of public administration and the founding director of the Federal Executive Institute in Charlottesville, Virginia, died on August 28, 2019 at his home in Annapolis, Maryland.

Born in October 1920, Dr. Sherwood was the only child of Dr. Clarence and Mildred Sherwood. He grew up in San Diego, California, graduating from San Diego High School. From San Diego, he attended Dartmouth College, graduating with the class of 1943. He joined the United States Army later in 1943, achieving the rank of First Lieutenant and serving overseas in Germany. During his three years of service, he served in the 10th Mountain Troop and the 99th Infantry Division, among other units. In 1946, as part of his Army service, he received a Certificate in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from Oxford University in England. His postwar responsibilities in military government undoubtedly contributed to his lifelong interest in public administration and public service.

In 1950, Dr. Sherwood received a Master’s of Science degree in Public Administration from the University of Southern California. In 1951, he began his academic career as an Assistant Professor in Public Administration, obtaining his Ph.D. in Political Science from USC shortly afterwards. He taught at USC until 1968, becoming the Director of the USC School of Public Administration. While at USC, he and his family lived in Rio de Janeiro, where he ran USC’s academic program in Brazil. He also taught USC courses in Pakistan and Iran.

In 1968, he was appointed the founding Director of the Federal Executive Institute in Charlottesville, Virginia where he created and conducted numerous advanced executive development programs. John Macy, then the Chairman of the Civil Service Commission, described him as “perhaps the single most important person in the history of public personnel administration.” The FEI, as it became known, was an important educational and training resource for senior federal executives and recently celebrated its 50th anniversary.

He finished his term as FEI director in 1973 and moved to Washington, D.C. where he (and his wife) founded the Washington Public Affairs Center, an Eastern campus for USC. The WPAC was a pioneer in adult education. One of the key innovations of the WPAC was the Intensive Semester, which divided courses into three learning phases and enabled executives to secure masters and doctorates in public administration with minimal disruption to their work schedules. As a prerequisite to admission, this program required students to describe their contributions to public administration in a doctoral dissertation and to explain how a doctoral degree would further those contributions.

In 1981, he accepted an appointment as the Chairman of the Department of Public Administration at Florida State University in Tallahassee. The University subsequently named him as the first Jerry Collins Eminent Scholar in Public Administration. He served as Management Advisor to the Honorable Robert Graham, Governor of Florida. He retired from FSU in 1995.

Dr. Sherwood received many awards during his academic and professional career, including the National Newswriting Champion in High Schools (1937), Rufus Choate Scholar (Dartmouth), Class of 1926 Fellow (Dartmouth), and election to Phi Beta Kappa, Pi Sigma Alpha. Most recently he received FEI’s First Honorary Service Award in 2018. In 1973-74, he served as National President of the American Society for Public Administration. He was elected Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration in 1969 and chaired various NAPA committees during his career. He served on the Board of Editors for numerous publications, including Public Administration Review and the International Journal of Public Administration.

Dr. Sherwood was a prolific author. During his career, he wrote, co-wrote and edited numerous books. The topics covered the challenges of managing sprawling federal agencies, state governments (most notably Florida and California), and city governments (most notably Los Angeles and neighboring cities). After retirement, he continued writing and publishing. Together with his wife, the late Frances (Susse) Sherwood, they published a two volume genealogical study of his Sherwood ancestors, dating back to Thomas Sherwood’s journey from England to the New World in 1634. (See A Changing America Seen Through One Sherwood Family Line 1634-2006; available through Amazon). He also edited and published three years of letters he wrote to his mother during his military service. See It Wasn’t All Combat: A Soldier’s Life in World War II (Amazon). And, after the death of his wife of 68 years, he wrote a final book about her. See My Susse: The Life of Frances Howell Sherwood (Amazon).

One of Dr. Sherwood’s most significant achievements was his enduring relationship with many of his students, especially the doctoral students at USC and FSU. He served on more than 50 doctoral committees, chairing a majority of them. On this subject, he wrote “I think one’s scholarly activity involves the great pleasure of working with doctoral students on their dissertations.” Many of these students became his closest friends and strongest supporters. They have always been part of his family.

Dr. Sherwood married the late Frances Howell in 1948 in Laguna Beach, California. They were happily married for 68 years, until her death in 2016. He was an avid tennis player, a lifelong devotee to journalism and public affairs and a loving husband, father and grandfather. He is survived by: two children: Jeffrey Kirk Sherwood of Annapolis, Maryland and Robin Ann Sherwood of West Norwalk, Connecticut; five grandchildren: Evan MacKinlay Sherwood of Alameda, California, Emily Ann Ziolkowski of London, England, Lindsay Beckwith Sherwood of Los Angeles, California, Sonya Sherwood Ziolkowski of Denver Colorado, and Amanda Persons Sherwood of Los Angeles, California; and one great-granddaughter: Quinn Jones Sherwood, of Alameda, California.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that any donations may be made to: Alzheimers Drug Discovery Foundation (www.alzdiscovery.org) or Center for Science in the Public Interest (cspinet.org).

A memorial service will be held on Sunday, September 29 at 3 pm at the Annapolis Maritime Museum in Annapolis, Maryland (723 2d Street, Annapolis, MD, amaritime.org). The service will also be live streamed (more information to follow on how to connect to the stream). Information regarding the service will also be available through his obituary, which can be found at: www.johnmtaylorfuneralhome.com

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