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Irene Sharp Rubin (born May 3, 1945) is an
America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
n
political scientist Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...
, currently a Professor Emerita of
Public Administration Public administration, or public policy and administration refers to "the management of public programs", or the "translation of politics into the reality that citizens see every day",Kettl, Donald and James Fessler. 2009. ''The Politics of the ...
at
Northern Illinois University Northern Illinois University (NIU) is a public research university in DeKalb, Illinois, United States. It was founded as "Northern Illinois State Normal School" in 1895 by Illinois Governor John P. Altgeld, initially to provide the state with c ...
. She researches the politics of public budgeting at various levels of
American government The Federal Government of the United States of America (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States. The U.S. federal government is composed of three distinct branches: legislative, execut ...
, and she has written methodological texts on how to conduct and analyze research interviews.


Education and early career

Rubin received a BA in East Asia studies in 1967 at
Barnard College Barnard College is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college affiliated with Columbia University in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a grou ...
, followed by an MA in East Asia studies in 1969 from
Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
. She then pursued a PhD in Sociology at the
University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...
, which she completed in 1977. Rubin began her career as a sociologist, ultimately transitioning into
urban studies Urban studies is based on the study of the urban development of cities and regions—it makes up the theory portion of the field of urban planning. This includes studying the history of city development from an architectural point of view, to th ...
and then political science and public affairs. From 1976 until 1979, Rubin was a professor of sociology at
Lewis University Lewis University is a private Lasallian university in Romeoville, Illinois, United States. It enrolls around 6,600 students in more than 80 undergraduate programs, 35 graduate programs, and accelerated programs for working adults. It is al ...
in
Romeoville, Illinois Romeoville is a village in Will County, Illinois, United States. The village is located southwest of Chicago on the Gateway Wetlands, directly west of the Des Plaines River. Per the 2020 census, the population was 39,863. It is located in the s ...
, where she was also Director of Urban Career Studies. In 1979 she became a professor at the
University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the Univ ...
Institute for Urban Studies, before moving to Northern Illinois University in 1981 where she remained as a professor of political science and public administration for the rest of her career.


Career

Rubin spent the bulk of her career, from 1981 until her retirement in 2004, at Northern Illinois University. During this time, she published articles across prominent urban affairs and public administration journals, as well as being an author or editor of 8 books. These include four single-authored books published between 1982 and 2002. Rubin's most-referenced work, written with Herbert Rubin, is an introductory textbook on interview research called ''Qualitative interviewing: The art of hearing data'', which was first published in 1995. The book introduces students to the concept of obtaining and analysing data from qualitative interviews, and describes methodological approaches for obtaining high-quality data from interviews. One of her single-authored books, the ''Politics of Public Budgeting'', was originally published in 1990 and had been released in 9 editions by 2019. John Pitney Jr. wrote that the book is a classroom text or reference volume that introduces "how money is raised and spent at all levels of government". Rubin was also the editor of a 2008 book in the American Society for Public Administration Classics Series, called ''Public Budgeting: Policy, Process and Politics''. She was the editor-in-chief of '' Public Budgeting & Finance'' from 1995–1996, and the editor-in-chief of the ''
Public Administration Review ''Public Administration Review'' is a bimonthly peer-reviewed academic journal the field of public administration. It was established in 1940 and has been one of the top-rated journals in the field. It is the official journal of the American Societ ...
'' from 1997–1999. Rubin has won several awards from major professional organisations. In 1994, she was awarded the Charles H. Levine Memorial Award for Excellence in Public Administration from the
American Political Science Association The American Political Science Association (APSA) is a professional association of political scientists in the United States. Founded in 1903 in the Tilton Memorial Library (now Tilton Hall) of Tulane University in New Orleans, it publishes four ...
, given for "a public administration faculty member who has demonstrated excellence in teaching, research and service to the wider community". She also received the James L. Blum Award for distinguished service in budgeting from the American Association for Budget and Program Analysis, and several best paper awards from flagship journals. Rubin has had one of the largest impacts of any active political scientist, as measured by citations. In 2019, Rubin was listed as the 13th most cited active emeritus political scientist at an American university in a citation analysis by the political scientists Hannah June Kim and
Bernard Grofman Bernard Norman Grofman (born December 2, 1944) is a political scientist at the University of California, Irvine. He is an expert on redistricting and has been a special master on several district map redrawings. From the University of Chicago he ...
. Rubin's work has also been referenced in media reports on public budgeting.


Selected works

*''Running in the Red: The Political Dynamics of Urban Fiscal Stress'' (1982) *''Shrinking the Federal Government: The Effect of Cutbacks on Five Federal Agencies'' (1985) *''Class, Tax, and Power: Municipal Budgeting in the United States'' (1998) *''Balancing the Federal Budget: Eating the Seed Corn or Trimming the Herds'' (2002) *''The Politics of Public Budgeting: Getting and Spending, Borrowing and Balancing'' (2019)


Selected awards

*Levine Award, American Society for Public Administration *James L. Blum Award for distinguished service in budgeting, American Association for Budget and Program Analysis


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rubin, Irene S. Living people American women political scientists American political scientists Barnard College alumni Harvard University alumni University of Chicago alumni Northern Illinois University faculty University of Maryland, College Park faculty Lewis University 1945 births American academic journal editors American women academics 21st-century American women