Faculty Member David Ammons Receives Budgeting Award

Jack Vogt and David Ammons

Faculty member David Ammons received the 2016 John “Jack” Vogt Award for Outstanding Commitment to the Advancement of Local Government Budgeting and Evaluation at the North Carolina Local Government Budget Association (NCGLBA) Conference in Charlotte on Thursday, December 8. NCLGBA gives this award to individuals who have devoted their careers to innovation and leadership in advancing budget and/or evaluation practices in North Carolina local government. During the presentation of the award, speakers highlighted the impact of Ammons' scholarship, his role in the School's Master of Public Administration (MPA) program, his NC Benchmarking project, his client work and courses, and his generosity and kindness. 
 
“I cannot imagine anyone whose contributions are more in line with the Vogt Award," said Justin Amos, a graduate of the MPA program and strategy and budget analyst for the City of Charlotte, North Carolina. "Well, other than Jack,” he added.

Ammons joined the School of Government in 1996 and served as director of the MPA program from 2001 to 2006. He writes and teaches about performance measurement, benchmarking, and productivity improvement in local government. His books on local government management include Municipal Benchmarks (M.E. Sharpe, 2012), Tools for Decision Making: A Practical Guide for Local Government (CQ Press, 2009), and Leading Performance Management in Local Government (ICMA, 2008). His articles have appeared in Public Administration Review, Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, American Review of Public Administration, Public Performance and Management Review, State and Local Government Review, and other public affairs journals. He currently serves on the board of directors of the Center for Accountability and Performance at the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA). Previously, he served on the National Performance Management Advisory Commission, ASPA's National Council, and the Executive Council of the Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration (NASPAA). He was elected as a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration in 2006 and in 2014 was the recipient of the Joseph Wholey Distinguished Scholarship Award presented by ASPA's Center for Performance and Accountability for work in the field of public sector performance. Ammons earned a PhD from the University of Oklahoma.

Jack Vogt (shown on left in photo with David Ammons at the awards ceremony) retired from full-time teaching and advising in 2006 after a 33-year career at the School of Government and currently serves as an adjunct professor for the School. In 2006, NCGLBA created the award in Vogt's name to be given annually for excellence in local budgeting in the state. Vogt is the author of Capital Improvement Programming: A Handbook for Local Government Officials, and he is editor and principal author of A Guide to Municipal Leasing, for which he received the Research and Publications Award of the Government Finance Officers Association. He is the recipient of the 2003 S. Kenneth Howard Award for lifetime professional achievement in public budgeting and finance, given by ASPA's Association for Budgeting and Financial Management.