Barbara Sirotnik, a Cal State San Bernardino professor in the Jack H. Brown College of Business and Public Administration, is the recipient of the Inland Empire ASPA 2024 Outstanding Educator Award from the Inland Empire chapter of the American Society for Public Administration.

The award, formally presented to Sirotnik at the American Society for Public Administration’s annual scholarship luncheon on June 27 in Riverside, recognizes those making an enduringly impactful contribution to education in the IE.

The event also honored prominent figures including V. Manuel Perez, Riverside County 4th District supervisor; Diana Alexander, assistant executive officer of San Bernardino County; and Crystal Craig, assistant executive officer of the Riverside Local Agency Formation Commission.

The American Society for Public Administration “is the largest and most prominent professional association in American public administration. ASPA has a diverse membership of approximately 8,000 practitioners, academicians and students,” according to its website. “It is an advocate for greater effectiveness in government, agents of goodwill and professionalism, publishers of democratic journalism at its very best, purveyors of progressive theory and practice and providers of global citizenship.”

IE-ASPA’s 2023-24 president, Sharon Velarde Pierce, is an associate professor of public administration at CSUSB.  

“This award reflects and celebrates the excellence of the work undertaken, throughout her career, by Barbara Sirotnik,” said CSUSB president Tomás D. Morales. “It also underscores her commitment to her community of peers in the field of public administration and to the people of the Inland Empire.”

Sirotnik said she is deeply grateful for this recognition by her peers. “I’m honored that apparently some of my colleagues have perceived that I've made an impact and presented me with this award,” she said. “At this point of my life, it truly means a lot.”

Sirotnik, who is a professor in the department of information and decision sciences as well as serving as director of the university’s Institute of Applied Research and Analysis, joined the university in 1980. Her areas of expertise include statistics, business analytics and supply chain management. She has won her college’s Faculty of the Year or Excellence in Teaching award five times and has been nominated for CSUSB’s Outstanding Professor award four times.

She co-founded the Institute of Applied Research and Analysis in 1985. Since that time, its work has encompassed conducting quality of life surveys for Riverside and San Bernardino counties as well as for the cities of Riverside and Hemet. It has also been involved in the mandatory three-year community health needs assessment for Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center. At the state level, it has conducted a study mapping the defense supply chain in California, and it conducted a nationwide study of information sharing in the military for the Department of Defense.

The institute’s services include (but are not limited to) economic forecasting, polling, strategic planning, health needs assessments and market research.

“Since I'm about to be officially retired after 44 years on this campus teaching everyone's ‘favorite course’ (statistics) I’ve been thinking about impact,” said Sirotnik. “We’ve all had people who have strongly impacted our lives … a teacher, or a mentor or a boss. I’ve always hoped that I would be someone who has made an impact.”

Retirement and this award have led her to reflect on her years of teaching. “I’ve been cleaning out my office and finding lovely notes from students over the years, notes that have touched my heart and made me think that maybe I’ve had an impact for at least some of the students I’ve ‘tortured’ in my classes all these years.” 

Sirotnik has a bachelor of science degree in math and statistics, a master of science in statistics and a Ph.D. in applied statistics, all from the University of California, Riverside.