By Tiffany Murray-Robertson
L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs

Gooden, Ph.D., dean and professor at the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University, received the American Society for Public Administration’s 2025 Dwight Waldo Award, a career achievement that honors sustained, influential scholarship in public administration. The award, now in its 45th year, has recognized trailblazers like Nobel laureate Herbert Simon and former Federal Reserve Chair Paul Volcker.

Wilder, the nation’s first elected African American governor and namesake of the VCU school, noted the significance of Gooden’s honor.

“When you consider that a Black woman from Martinsville, Virginia, received this award, the first Black person in its 45-year span, it is recognition of what historical change is all about,” Wilder said. “Dean Gooden’s decades of scholarship, research and multifaceted leadership are reflected across her many professional organizations. And for that, along with her remarkable visionary excellence, we are extremely proud.”

An internationally recognized scholar, Gooden has authored six books and nearly 100 peer-reviewed articles and chapters — work that has defined and expanded the field of social equity in government. Her 2014 book, “Race and Social Equity: A Nervous Area of Government,” introduced an influential framework for understanding the role of race in governance, and it was honored with the Herbert A. Simon Best Book Award by the American Political Science Association.

Gooden’s more recent books reflect her continued leadership in advancing inclusive governance, applied research and global equity in public administration. Titles include “Teaching Social Equity in Public Administration: A Cross-Curricular Guide for Faculty and Programs” (2024), “Racial Equity, COVID and Public Policy: The Triple Pandemic” (2023) and “Global Equity in Administration: Nervous Areas of Governance” (2020).

Gooden has secured more than $2.4 million in research funding from institutions including the Russell Sage Foundation, MDRC, the Kellogg Foundation and Manhattan Institute for Policy Research. Her research has addressed issues ranging from welfare reform and racial disparities in health to vaccine equity and census participation. In 2014, she was awarded a Fulbright Specialist Award to Zayed University in Abu Dhabi, expanding her global footprint as a scholar of social equity.

“I am deeply honored to receive the Dwight Waldo Award. As a proud alum of the Maxwell School at Syracuse University, where I had the opportunity to meet Dr. Waldo, this recognition holds special meaning for me,” Gooden said.

“This is not an award I receive alone,” she added. “I am grateful to the many institutions that have shaped my career and to the colleagues and co-authors whose collaboration and support have been essential to my scholarship. I am especially thankful for my colleagues at the Wilder School, where I have spent more than two decades committed to advancing the values of equity and public service. This recognition is a reflection of that collective work.”

At VCU, Gooden co-founded the Research Institute for Social Equity. Additionally, she co-founded the Journal of Social Equity and Public Administration, a scholarly platform advancing equity-focused research. She is a former president of both the American Society for Public Administration and the Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs and Administration, and she is an elected fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration, serving on its Standing Panel on Social Equity in Governance.

The Waldo Award was presented to Gooden at the ASPA annual conference in Washington. Her other honors have included the Charles H. Levine Memorial Award for Excellence in Public Administration, the Joan Fiss Bishop Leadership Award, the Gwendolyn Bullock-Smith Public Service Award and the Philip J. Rutledge Social Equity Leadership Award.