Public Support

Ann Bridges Steely Gives Back to UAB’s M.P.A. Program

Troy Post, Ann Bridges Steely, and Akhlaque Haque

Recently inducted into the M.P.A. Hall of Fame, Ann Bridges Steely has been a highly active and generous alumna since her graduation in 1980. Recently Steely and other alumni and supporters of the Master of Public Administration (M.P.A.) program at UAB generously gave gifts toward an endowed scholarship in social and behavioral sciences in the College of Arts and Sciences.

The M.P.A. Alumni Endowed Scholarship recognizes the generosity and support provided by the program’s many alumni who actively participate in the continued growth and success of the program through philanthropic donations and fund-raising, student mentoring, job placement, adjunct teaching, student recruitment, and other efforts. Troy Post, a 2005 graduate of the M.P.A. program and past president of the M.P.A. Alumni Association, a chapter of the UAB National Alumni Society, spearheaded efforts to raise funds among alumni for the scholarship. Steely kindly made the lead gift.

Steely, the senior director and program manager for ground sensor integration for the United States Army’s Future Combat Systems Program, received an undergraduate degree in psychology from UAB. After earning her M.P.A., she participated in the Air Force Institute of Technology’s Education with Industry Program with the Pratt & Whitney Division of United Technologies. She has served as associate director of acquisition for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and as director of contracts for Raytheon Integrated Communications Systems in Marlborough, Massachusetts. From 2000 to 2003, she served as director of acquisition and logistics for the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, where she led more than 150 civilian and military acquisition, engineering, and logistics personnel.

“Ms. Steely has been an exemplary alumna of the UAB alumni family,” says Akhlaque Haque, Ph.D., associate professor of social and behavioral sciences and director of the M.P.A. program. “She has not only been consistent about recognizing the value of her degree from UAB at high-profile national forums, but she also has supported the program through donations and matching funds from her employers wherever she has worked over the last 26 years.  The M.P.A. program is truly honored to have such a dedicated alumna.”

The M.P.A. program offers broad-based training in management, research methods, policy analysis, personnel, and budgeting in addition to background in the political, social, economic, and legal context of public administration. Accredited by the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration (NASPAA), it is one of only three such accredited programs in the state and is a member of NASPAA’s Global Project Initiative, expanding the role of M.P.A. graduates to the international arena.

Maintaining the Momentum / Summer 2010