New Dean Leads USM Muskie School of Public Service

The former director of government relations at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico has been appointed the new dean of the University of Southern Maine’s Edmund S. Muskie School of Public Service.

Karl Braithwaite will begin his new duties on September 1. Braithwaite brings more than 30 years of higher education and public service experience to the Muskie School. Before moving to Los Alamos in 1980, Braithwaite worked closely with Maine’s late Senator Edmund Muskie as the staff director for the Senate Public Works Subcommittee on Environmental Pollution.

As a member of the senior management team at Los Alamos, Braithwaite guided the national lab’s relationships with Congress, federal and state agencies, and the lab’s operator, the University of California. He also helped set the strategic direction for the lab through his participation on the Laboratory Leadership Council.

Braithwaite began his career as a faculty member in the Duke University Department of Political Science and continues to teach public policy courses. He earned his master’s degree and Ph.D. in political science at the University of Wisconsin.

"Public service faces critical challenges at every level of government in the coming decade. Ed Muskie set a superb example of how public servants should meet such challenges, and it is an honor to lead an institution carrying his name," said Braithwaite.

“Karl’s experience in higher education, in Washington and at Los Alamos make him the ideal choice to lead a graduate school with a growing educational mission and an increasingly significant research mission that addresses the health and social service needs of citizens throughout Maine and the nation,” said USM President Richard L. Pattenaude.

About the Muskie School: The Muskie School of Public Service is named for former U.S. Senator and Secretary of State Edmund S. Muskie, who also served as Maine governor and legislator. As a leading member of the U.S. Senate, Muskie authored the nation's pivotal environmental laws and the federal Budget Act, among other landmark legislation. Established in 1972, the University of Southern Maine’s Edmund S. Muskie School of Public Service links scholarship to practice to educate future leaders, inform public policy, and broaden civic participation. The Muskie School’s four graduate academic programs include a doctoral degree in Public Policy & Management. The Muskie School’s three nationally recognized policy institutes receive more than $20 million annually to conduct research projects in every Maine county and in all 50 states, addressing the areas of: health care, child & family well-being, community & economic development, and public sector innovation. Learn more about the Muskie School at: www.muskie.usm.maine.edu