Guthrie Sweeney Birkhead was an American political scientist, public-administration scholar, educator, and dean emeritus of Syracuse University's Maxwell School. A Maxwell faculty member for five decades, he served as dean from 1977 to 1988 and contributed to international administrative development, metropolitan-government research, New York constitutional reform, and regional water policy.
Background
Guthrie Sweeney Birkhead was born on October 28, 1920, in Holden, Missouri, to Yula Donna Glass and Guthrie S. Birkhead Sr., a minister. During the Second World War, he served as a combat infantry officer in General George S. Patton's Third Army and with the 89th Infantry Division, known as the "Rolling W." After the war, he established Syracuse, New York, as his professional and family home. He married Louise Gartner Birkhead in 1952 after they met at Syracuse University's Maxwell School. They remained married for approximately sixty years and raised three sons: Guthrie S. Birkhead III, Richard G. Birkhead, and Evan C. Birkhead. Louise pursued a career in public administration for the City of Syracuse and New York State.
Education
Birkhead began his higher education at Jefferson City Junior College in Missouri, earning an Associate in Arts degree in 1940. He continued at the University of Missouri, where he received a Bachelor of Arts in 1942 and a Master of Arts in 1947. He then studied at Princeton University, earning a second Master of Arts in 1949 and a Ph.D. in politics in 1951. His doctoral work addressed United States conservation policy, an interest that informed later work on natural resources, water administration, and regional public policy. His progression from Missouri junior-college and university study to Princeton doctoral training prepared him for a career combining political science, public administration, metropolitan studies, and applied policy research.
Career
Birkhead joined the faculty of Syracuse University's Maxwell School in 1950 and remained associated with the institution for approximately five decades. He became a full professor of political science in 1960 and held several leadership positions, including director of the Metropolitan Studies Program, chair of the Political Science Department, and director of the Public Administration Program. He served as research director for the United Nations Public Administration Institute for Turkey and the Middle East in Ankara in 1955–1956, advised the Pakistan Administrative Staff College in Lahore from 1962 to 1964, and returned to Pakistan in 1967 as a Ford Foundation public-administration adviser. His international work focused on public-administration training and resources for civil servants. Birkhead participated in studies of metropolitan government and the Delaware River Basin, including work associated with the Delaware Valley Project of the Delaware River Basin Commission that contributed to regional water administration and the development of the Delaware River Basin Commission. In New York State, he served as executive director of the Committee of Local Government and Home Rule at the 1967 Constitutional Convention and consulted on municipal charters for Fulton, Batavia, Amsterdam, and Syracuse. He became dean of the Maxwell School in 1977 and served until 1988. After retiring as dean, he continued teaching, serving on dissertation committees, and advising students for more than a decade. He taught more than 2,500 graduate students and approximately 1,000 undergraduates, many of whom entered public service or academic careers. He supported conservation and environmental stewardship, including initiatives concerning water administration and the Upper St. Lawrence River.
Achievements
Served as the sixth dean of Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs from 1977 to 1988.
Helped develop Maxwell School programs in metropolitan studies and public administration and taught more than 2,500 graduate students and approximately 1,000 undergraduates.
Contributed to public-policy and regional water-administration initiatives involving the Delaware River Basin Commission.
Played a significant role in local-government work associated with the 1967 New York State Constitutional Convention.
Served as executive director of the Committee of Local Government and Home Rule at the 1967 New York State Constitutional Convention.
Advised public-administration institutions and civil-service development programs in Turkey and Pakistan.
(Collaborative metropolitan-government study involving Gut...)
1961
Politics
He chaired the platform committee of the New York State Democratic Party under Governor Mario Cuomo in 1983–1984.
Views
Birkhead supported conservation and environmental stewardship and pursued public administration as a means of addressing practical problems in government, metropolitan affairs, and natural-resource management.
Quotations:
"Stay connected with the students."
Membership
Birkhead was a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration and was associated with the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Society for Public Administration, Phi Beta Kappa, and Sigma Xi. His professional affiliations reflected his sustained interests in political science, public administration, public policy, natural-resource administration, and academic scholarship.
Fellow.
National Academy of Public Administration
,
United States
Fellow.
American Association for the Advancement of Science
,
United States
American Society for Public Administration
,
United States
Phi Beta Kappa
,
United States
Sigma Xi
,
United States
Personality
Birkhead was remembered by colleagues and former students as a dedicated teacher who remained closely connected with students after becoming dean and after retiring from the deanship. He described his decision to continue teaching after leaving the deanship as a way to "stay connected with the students."
Quotes from others about the person
Colleagues and former students remembered Birkhead as a dedicated teacher who maintained close relationships with students throughout his deanship and after his retirement as dean.
Interests
Conservation, environmental stewardship, water administration, and the protection of the Upper St. Lawrence River.
Connections
Birkhead's professional and family life was closely connected with Syracuse University and the Maxwell School. His wife, Louise Gartner Birkhead, was a Maxwell alumna and public administrator for the City of Syracuse and New York State. Their three sons included physicians Guthrie S. Birkhead III and Richard G. Birkhead. The family maintained interests in public service, education, and environmental stewardship, and gifts in Birkhead's memory supported the Maxwell School and conservation organizations in the Upper St. Lawrence region.
Father:
Guthrie S. Birkhead Sr.
Minister.
Mother:
Yula Donna Glass
Wife:
Louise Gartner Birkhead
Public administrator who worked for the City of Syracuse and New York State; she met Birkhead at Syracuse University's Maxwell School.
Son:
Guthrie S. Birkhead III
Physician.
Son:
Richard G. Birkhead
Physician.
Son:
Evan C. Birkhead
References
In Memoriam: Former Maxwell Dean Guthrie S. Birkhead, Jr.
Syracuse University's Maxwell School memorial describing Birkhead's career, international public-administration work, education, military service, affiliations, public-policy activities, and family.
Guthrie Birkhead Obituary
Obituary documenting his death, Syracuse University career, New York State policy work, family, and public-administration activities.
