Fishers mayor to teach course on public service at IU Indy

Scott Fadness

Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness is going back to school.

Fadness will join the Paul H. O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University Indianapolis this fall as an associate faculty member, where he will teach a course aimed at helping students understand what it means to be a public servant, the university announced Thursday.

He will teach a course called “The Call of Public Service,” which will focus on the history, philosophy, values and outcomes for careers in public service. Fadness will look at what drives people to those careers and the impact it has on communities.

“I am excited and honored to engage with the next generation of public servants,” Fadness said in written remarks. “The problems and opportunities facing our world today are as complex as they have ever been, and we need to equip the next generation with the tools to tackle them. I am grateful to do my small part.”

Fadness earned a master’s degree in of public administration from O’Neill School in 2007, and he is the first sitting mayor to serve on the school’s faculty in Indianapolis.

Fadness, who is in his third term as mayor, previously taught classes at the O’Neill School before becoming mayor, most recently in 2013. He served as town manager of Fishers from 2011 to 2015 before Fishers transitioned from being a town to a city.

“We are thrilled and honored to add Mayor Fadness to our elite faculty roster at the O’Neill School,” said O’Neill Associate Dean of Student Services and Enrollment Management Suzann Lupton. “Mayor Fadness will provide critical real-world insight and experience to O’Neill students, helping to guide up-and-coming leaders on the importance of public service and how they can go on to make a difference in their communities.”

The course is part of O’Neill Indianapolis’ new Community and Organizational Leadership Studies program, which offers a bachelor’s degree, minor and certificate options. The IU Board of Trustees approved the degree path this spring. The Indiana Commission for Higher Education approved it in July.

On July 1, IUPUI—otherwise known as Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis—formally broke into Indiana University Indianapolis, a standalone campus in the IU system, and Purdue University in Indianapolis, which will be considered an extension of Purdue’s main campus in West Lafayette.