5:13 p.m., Nov. 20, 2007--Arno Loessner, associate professor emeritus of urban affairs and public policy and faculty fellow emeritus of the Center for International Studies, is UD's Romanian connection. He has visited Bobes-Bolyai University (BBU) in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, five times, since 2002 and is scheduled to return again with 11 UD public policy graduate students in January. Two of his visits were supported by the Fulbright Program, one by the Hewlett Foundation and two by BBU. In recognition of his service to BBU, Loessner was awarded an honorary degree in October.

The 11 students will participate together with BBU graduate students in a joint service learning program with the public administration department in BBU's Faculty of Political, Administrative and Communication Sciences. UD students will engage with Romanian colleagues in meetings with local public authorities and nonprofit institutions to see how civil society in Romania is evolving to meet community needs. This comparative analysis will be useful for understanding cultural dimensions of public administration and a better understanding of the situation in both Romania and the United States, Loessner said.

Currently, Paula Beudean, a public administration master's student at BBU, is studying at UD's School of Urban Affairs and Public Policy during the 2007-08 academic year and will assist with the development and conduct of the January visit to Romania.

Loessner, who has strong ties with BBU beginning with his first visit as a member of an international advisory team in 2002, has been instrumental in establishing a collaborative relationship between UD and BBU. He is a member of the BBU Department of Public Administration, where he teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in microeconomics and financial management and is a member of its International Advisory Panel.

It is important for UD students to have international experience in transitional or developing countries, which can be helpful in their future careers either in the U.S. or abroad, Loessner said.

As part of the evolving relationship with BBU, Jeff Raffel, C. P. Messick Professor of the School of Urban Affairs and Public Policy, has just returned from a Fulbright award as a visiting professor with the Faculty of Political, Administrative and Communication Sciences.

BBU presented Loessner with an honorary degree in recognition of his service to international higher education and to the development of the public administration program at BBU. Raffel described the October 30 presentation ceremony when the entire departmental faculty gathered to greet him and say farewell to Loessner, who was returning to Delaware. Dean Baba bestowed the honorary degree on Loessner and said how much Loessner has meant to BBU, teaching, offering advice on research, public service and curriculum. The program has grown from 20 students to more than 500 and is the first to be accredited in Romania. The local press and TV also covered Loessner's service, Raffel said.

Loessner's services have been in demand in other areas, as well. He conducted a “master class” on governance policy and practice for Dutch foreign service officers in The Hague at the request of the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The goal was to help Dutch technical support staff in the field direct more development assistance to reach the poor in developing countries and emerging economies.

Loessner has bachelor's and master's degrees in economics from UD and his doctorate in education from the University of Pennsylvania. In addition to his faculty responsibilities at UD, he served as vice president and University Secretary (1978-93) and as secretary/treasurer of Unidel Foundation, Inc. (1993-present). He also served for 22 years as permanent representative to the United Nation for the International Union of Local Authorities, a part-time assignment that often involved his students and colleagues.

A Fellow of the Salzburg Seminar in 1977, Loessner returned to the University to establish a regular connection between UD and the Salzburg Seminar that has helped almost 50 UD faculty and professional staff to participate in the seminar over the past 30 years.