The Canadian Association of Programs in Public Administration (CAPPA) is please to announce that the winner of the 2026 Kenneth Kernaghan Award for Excellence in Research is Dr. Alasdair Roberts.
This award recognizes outstanding research contributions to the field of public administration, and Dr. Roberts’ scholarly record is exceptional in both its productivity and its influence.
Over the course of his career, Dr. Roberts has written or edited 16 books with major academic and commercial presses and has published 54 peer-reviewed journal articles. His work has had a remarkable impact, with more than 5,500 citations according to Google Scholar. This level of scholarly productivity reflects not only the breadth of his expertise, but also the sustained relevance of his research to public administration, governance, transparency, and democratic accountability.
The quality of Dr. Roberts’ scholarship has been recognized repeatedly. Several of his publications have received major scholarly awards, including multiple book prizes for Blacked Out: Government Secrecy in the Information Age, published by Cambridge University Press. Across his career, his work has received seven book awards and five article awards, a clear testament to the originality, rigour, and significance of his contributions.
Dr. Roberts’ influence extends well beyond Canada. His research has had a sustained North American impact and has addressed major issues in public administration across different geographic and institutional contexts. His career has been marked by a consistent ability to write on timely and important questions while also shaping broader scholarly debates in the field.
This influence has been recognized through major honours, including the Riggs Award for Lifetime Achievement from the American Society for Public Administration and the Grace-Pépin Access to Information Award for his research on open government. He was also the first non-U.S. citizen elected a Fellow of the U.S. National Academy of Public Administration, a distinction that speaks to the international reach and significance of his work.
His scholarship has received critical acclaim for the depth of its analysis and the clarity of its contribution, with several works described as essential reading for scholars and practitioners alike. He has also contributed to the development of the field through service on the editorial committees of 20 scholarly journals, including Canadian Public Administration. The translation of some of his work into other languages further demonstrates the international relevance of his research.
For his extraordinary scholarly productivity, the exceptional quality of his publications, his sustained influence on public administration research, and his lasting contribution to the field in Canada and beyond, CAPPA is honoured to present the Kenneth Kernaghan Award for Excellence in Research to Dr. Alasdair Roberts.