Aaron Wildavsky

GSPP's Founding Dean

Aaron Wildavsky (1930-93) was a political scientist and the founding dean of the Goldman School of Public Policy.

Born to Ukranian Jewish immigrants Eva and Sender Wildavsky, Aaron Wildavsky graduated from Brooklyn College and received his doctorate in political science from Yale University. He joined the political science faculty at UC Berkeley in 1962 and served as department chair from 1966-69. In 1969, he founded the school of public policy and served as its dean until 1977

Aaron Wildavsky was a leading scholar on budgeting and budget theory. His book, Politics of the Budgetary Process, was recognized by the American Society for Public Administration as one of the most influential works of public administration in the last five decades. He was a prolific writer, authoring or co-authoring 39 books and many more scholarly journal articles on budgeting, policy analysis, public administration, and the culture of politics. 

Aaron Wildavsky was a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Center of Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences. Among the many honors conferred upon him were the Dwight Waldo Award from the American Society of Public Administration, the Charles E. Merrian Award from the American Political Science Association and a Guggenheim fellowship.