Sam S. Gaston, MPA

Bio

Professor Sam S. Gaston, MPA, is Practitioner-in-Residence in the Master of Public Administration (MPA) Program. His expertise, research and teaching focus on city/county management and public administration leadership and ethics. Gaston is the past chairman of the ICMA Advisory Board for Graduate Education and is past president of the International City-County Management Association (ICMA), past regional vice president of ICMA, and past president of the Alabama City-County Management Association.

Gaston serves as city manager of Mountain Brook, Alabama – a position he has held since 1993. He is the recipient of the “Outstanding Public Official” award from the Alabama Urban Forestry Association, the “Vocational Excellence” award from the Alabama City-County Management Association, and the “Administrator of the Year” award from the Greater Birmingham Chapter of the American Society for Public Administration.

Prior to joining the faculty in the Robertson School of Government, Gaston was chair of the National Advisory Board for the MPA Program at Regent University. Between 1999 and 2014, he was an adjunct professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He earned an MPA degree from Auburn University at Montgomery and an undergraduate degree in public administration from Auburn University. Gaston also serves on the MPA Advisory Committee and the Advisory Board for the Government and Economic Development Institute at Auburn University. The son of a Baptist minister, Gaston is a member of Evangel Presbyterian Church PCA where he has served as Sunday School superintendent, deacon, and elder.