Public Governance Series

It is with great sadness that we have to announce the passing of Dr Sylvia Horton.

Dr Sylvia Horton has chaired the EGPA study group on public personnel policies for 20 years (1991-2011), together with prof. David Farnham and prof. Annie Hondeghem. The study group has always been one of the most successful study groups of EGPA. In that period, four books were published, several special issues, and many book chapters demonstrating her great contributions to the discipline and the field of public personnel policy.

The EGPA conferences were high days for Sylvia and meant a lot to her. It was an occasion to meet colleagues and friends. The meetings were very inclusive and productive. Sylvia’s comments on the papers were always constructive and to the point. She supported young scholars in their first steps in academia.

Sylvia was an outstanding scholar who was always up to date with the international HR literature in public services, but also very aware of policy debates in the UK civil service. Her analysis of the emergence of HRM in the UK public sector and the four characteristics in which HRM differed from public personnel policies in the era of the welfare state, has inspired many subsequent studies internationally.

Dr Sylvia Horton was also member of the EGPA Steering Committee Steering for six years from 2004 to 2010.

Our condolences will go to her family, colleagues, and friends at Portsmouth University and in the international community.