FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Internationally recognized lecturer, author and public servant Kay Collett Goss has joined the department of political science as its first Executive in Residence. The department adopted its executive in residence program in 2013. The program brings high-ranking managers in the service professions and career executives to campus to interact with undergraduate and graduate students through lectures and professional seminars.

"We're honored that Kay Goss accepted our offer to serve as the first Executive in Residence," said Margaret Reid, chair of the department. "Her long professional career in high ranking government positions, her vast international experiences and her close connection with academia make her the ideal candidate."

Goss’ expertise in the fields of emergency management, risk communication and general resiliency have made her a highly respected authority who is admired by business leaders, government officials and social activists throughout the world.

She joined the University of Arkansas campus in August as interim director of the international relations/international studies program in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences while director, Benjamin Grob-Fitzgibbon, is overseas. Her appointment as Executive in Residence in political science began with the spring 2014 semester.

Goss’ career has taken her from Arkansas all over the world. For 10 years, she served as senior assistant for intergovernmental relations for Governor Bill Clinton. Moving from the state capitol to the federal government, she became the first woman to hold the position of assistant director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency in charge of national preparedness, training and exercises, presidential appointee, U.S. Senate confirmed.

Additional work experience includes serving as senior associate for Emergency Management and Homeland Security for Booz Allen Hamilton in McLean, Va., senior principal and adviser for Emergency Management and Continuity Programs at Systems and Research Applications International, in Arlington, Va., and senior adviser for Emergency Management, Homeland Security, Business Security at Electronic Data Systems Corp, in Herndon, Va.

With a strong commitment to give back to her community, Goss sits on the board of directors/trustees for the National Information Sharing Consortium, Union Institute and University, Global Community College in California and University of Arkansas Alumni Association. She serves as president of World Disaster Management LLC and the Foundation for Higher Education Accreditation and as first vice president of the International Network of Women in Emergency Management. She is an adjunct faculty member at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas and Istanbul Technical University.

Honored by many organizations for her public service and expertise, Goss serves as a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration, an ambassador for the William Jefferson Clinton Foundation, an advisory board member for the Wilbur D. Mills Treatment Center for Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, vice president of the Every Child Is Ours Foundation and volunteer chancellor for the World Disaster Management Community College in Kanana, South Africa.

Goss earned a bachelor of arts in public administration and master of arts in public administration from the University of Arkansas.  She is an emergency management columnist for the Domestic Preparedness Journal and has written five books. Her most recent book is Mr. Chairman: The Life and Legacy of Wilbur Mills (Parkhurst Brothers Publishers, Dec. 2012).