May 18, 2018
Franke retires after 34 years as a faculty member
James Franke will retire from the political science department at Kansas State University this May.
Franke has been an invaluable member of the department and the K-State family for 34 years, and has played a number of important roles for the university. He served as director of the survey research unit of the Institute for Social and Behavior Research from 1990 to 1994. He was director of the master's program in the department from 2009 to 2012.
Since 2012, he has been the director of graduate studies in the department. In the latter capacity, he led a transformation of the department's nationally accredited Master of Public Administration program. Following student, alumni, and other stakeholder input, the program's curriculum was revised to become more practitioner-focused and more useful for aspiring public administrators. A new Master of Public Administration Alumni Advisory Board was established, and a wide range of important practitioner focused activities and connections were developed.
Franke also won the William L. Stamey Award for Undergraduate Teaching Excellence twice and contributed to the profession with notable scholarship. To say that the department and the college are grateful for Franke's many lasting contributions to the university is an understatement.