©2006 Public Policy Institute, WCU, NC
Gordon Mercer, Ph.D.
Gordon Mercer currently serves as Director of the Western Carolina
University Public Policy Institute and previously served Associate Dean of Research and
Graduate Studies. He has previously served on the faculties at Barton
College , University of Richmond, University of Mississippi, and is
currently Professor of Political Science and Public Affairs at Western
Carolina University. He received his Bachelors degree at Wake Forest
University , M.A. at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Ph.
D. at the University of Florida with specialization in political
science, public administration and sociology.
He has authored numerous policy reports and refereed journal articles in
the field of public policy and has held positions in the area of public
policy analysis at the U. S. Department of Education and later at the
National Institute of Education in Washington, D. C. He served as Head
of the Political Science Department at Western Carolina University from
1980-1992 and later directed the MPA Program before becoming Director of
the Western Carolina University Public Policy Institute in the spring of
1999. He has previously served as president of the North Carolina
Political Science Association and currently serves as
President of Pi Gamma Mu International Honor Society. He was awarded the
Western Carolina University Paul A. Reid Distinguished Service Award in
1998 for his work in the public service area. He has also been elected
and served four terms in the Western Carolina University Faculty Senate
and two terms in the University of North Carolina System Faculty
Assembly.
During the 1998 academic year he was Western Carolina University’s nominee
for the governor’s Award for Excellence. In 2005 he received the North Carolina
Political Science Association’s Distinguished Service Award. He is currently
president of Pi Gamma Mu International Honor Society. In this position he works
with faculty across the globe.