Joseph A. Ferrara

Joe Ferrara is currently Chief of Staff to the President of Georgetown University. In this role, he works closely with the President to manage major university initiatives and has traveled with the President and the Board of Directors on university business around the world, including Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.

Getting to Know You: Rules of Engagement for Political Appointees and Career Executives

Ferrara and Ross dispel common myths held by political appointees about careerists and by careerists about political appointees. One such myth about careerists suggests that they are loyal to the previous administration. A myth about political appointees implies that they care only about ideology and not about organizational stewardship. The report sets forth constructive "rules of engagement" that political and career executives can use to form partnerships in achieving the administration’s program and policy objectives.

The Defense Leadership Management Program: Taking Career Development Seriously

This project examines the implementation of the innovative Defense Leadership Management Program (DLAMP) and draws conclusions about its strengths and weaknesses. DLAMP is an innovation in the public sector's management of human resources and an attempt by the federal government to provide a program of systematic career development for it's civilian employees. Programs such as DLAMP are an important component of the public sector’s efforts to shore up its workforce for the challenges of the new century and make government service an attractive career option for generations to come.

Vice President and Chief of Staff
Georgetown University
204 Healy Hall
37th & "O" Streets, NW
Washington, DC 20057-1789
United States
(202) 687-4134

Joe Ferrara is currently Chief of Staff to the President of Georgetown University. In this role, he works closely with the President to manage major university initiatives and has traveled with the President and the Board of Directors on university business around the world, including Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.

Joe has been at Georgetown since 2003 and previously served as Associate Dean of what is now the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown. Prior to his service at Georgetown, Joe spent a few years as an independent public policy consultant and, before that, over 16 years as a civil servant with the federal government. Most of his federal career was with the Department of Defense, where Joe worked on budget, acquisition, and legislative matters. Joe was appointed to the Senior Executive Service and entered federal service through the Presidential Management Fellowship Program.

Joe has received numerous awards for his service at Georgetown and in government, including the Thrive Award for Service to First-Generation, High-Need Students (the inaugural recipient of this award), the Outstanding Faculty Award at the McCourt School, the Secretary of Defense Medal for Civilian Service (three times), and the Vice President's "Hammer" Award for Reinventing Government (twice).

Joe earned his Ph.D. in Government at Georgetown and has published in a number of academic journals, including the American Politics Quarterly, the Journal of Church and State, and the National Security Studies Quarterly. He has taught undergraduate and graduate courses in political science and public policy. He is married to Martha Ruth Ferrara, CPA, and they have three children, the youngest of whom begins college this fall.