In This Story
When Hal Gortner arrived at George Mason University in 1979, the campus was little more than a cluster of buildings and an ambitious vision. The university, just seven years old, had about 10,000 students and was still defining itself. But Gortner saw potential—not just in George Mason, but in the students he would go on to mentor over the next several decades.
Gortner, a towering figure in public administration education and a founding architect of the university’s public administration program, died August 7, 2024. He was 84.
At a time when George Mason was rapidly evolving, Gortner launched the public administration program, one of the university’s first to grant graduate degrees. His work laid the foundation for what would become the Schar School of Policy and Government, now home to 90 full-time faculty and 2,000 students across undergraduate and graduate programs.
Gortner served as director of the fledgling program for four years before stepping into a larger role for eight years as chair of the new Public and International Affairs Department in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences.
“Hal was a good chair and generous colleague,” said University Professor Emeritus James P. Pfiffner, who came to George Mason in 1984 when Gortner was chair of the department. “Faculty members knew we could count on him if we needed help, and we had high confidence in his fair and balanced leadership of the department. We knew we could count on him as our leader but also as a friend.”
A prolific scholar, Gortner authored several influential works, including Organization Theory: A Public and Nonprofit Perspective, a widely used text that has been translated into multiple languages. His contributions at George Mason were recognized in 2006 with the establishment of the Harold Gortner Distinguished Speaker Series in Public Administration.
A Missouri native, Gortner’s academic journey took him from Earlham College, where he earned a degree in political science in 1963, and to Indiana University, where he earned master’s degrees in public administration (1966) and political science (1969), as well as a PhD in political science (1971). Before arriving at George Mason, he was an assistant professor at San Jose State University.
Beyond his academic achievements, Gortner was known for his warmth and generosity. His students remember him as a mentor who believed in their potential.
“Hal’s positive outlook and confidence helped us become productive public servants,” said one former student. A colleague called him “the most community-spirited and devoted to the greater good.”
After retiring in 2004, Gortner and his wife, Sylvia, moved to Bluffton, South Carolina, and later to Bloomington, Indiana, where they settled in 2015. His legacy is etched not just in the institutions he helped shape but in the countless students and colleagues he inspired along the way.