Taking a class you have no interest in to fulfill a major requirement is a part of life for most students.
Camille Cates Barnett faced this problem as a student at Lawrence University in the fall of 1969. “I wasn’t very interested in American government, but I had to take it to major in political science,” she said.
She opted to take an off-campus course in Chicago at a particularly turbulent time in the city’s history, marked by civil unrest and racial tension.
“I was just really surprised because I had never experienced anything like that, and so I said, ‘Well, there must be a better way to run cities,’” Barnett said.
Recently appointed a Penn Institute of Urban Research scholar, Barnett has worked in city management across the country. Prior to her appointment at Penn, she worked as Philadelphia’s managing director.
Her new job at Penn will primarily deal with research on developing programs that will be used to help improve government performance. She believes that the best way to achieve this is to offer incentives and awards. Thus, when Penn offered her the opportunity to design an award for innovation in local government, she jumped at the chance.
“I think that one of the things that can really help us learn from each other and encourage better government is if we recognize the good things that the government is doing,” she said.
For IUR co-director Eugenie Birch, the decision to hire Barnett was an easy one. She points to prior accomplishments and national renown, as well as Barnett’s work for the city of Philadelphia as actors in the decision to appoint her.
As managing director of Philadelphia, Barnett implemented such reforms as the 311 call line for non-emergency calls and the PhillyStat data collection system, which allows city residents to watch via television meetings between administration and government agencies on performance.
Steve Kennebeck, who worked as Barnett’s chief of staff in Philadelphia, is confident that Barnett will excel at her new position.
“She is a great leader, a subject-matter expert and she’s one of the mightiest people I’ve ever met,” he said.
Birch is looking forward to working with Barnett as well, citing her ability to relate governmental practices to the average citizen as her best trait for the job.
“We love scholars and practitioners who can bring the field to the academy and the academy to the field,” she said.
As for Barnett, she is looking forward to the change of scenery inherent in her new position.
“I’m really excited to have a formal connection with Penn,” she said. “It’s obviously a prestigious university that has made great contributions to the city of Philadelphia.”
