Professor of public administration, attorney, and Penn State Hazleton alumnus Adam Kuczynski is the guest speaker for the annual George Tseo Memorial Lecture on Tuesday, March 18.
HAZLETON, Pa. — Adam Kuczynski, assistant professor of public administration at Seton Hall University, attorney, and Penn State Hazleton alumnus, will be the guest speaker for the campus’ annual George Tseo Memorial Lecture on Tuesday, March 18, from 12:20 to 1:20 in 115 Evelyn Graham Academic Building.
In his talk, “Framing or Filtering? The Importance of Perception in Public Service,” Kuczynski will discuss how communication can affect a person’s perception of a public policy — more specifically, how framing a statement about a policy affects how people react to it.
“If you positively frame something or negatively frame something, it affects how people react to it,” Kuczynski said. “In my talk, I will try to speak to perception in public administration, and how perception impacts a lot of what we see and do. I will give out some ideas of how to make sure you see the framing and perception influence going on so you can make critically informed decisions. I want individuals to be aware of what they’re seeing and what their choices mean.”
He added, “The lecture is going to be broad and geared to the public — a lighthearted but serious chat about how perception impacts you and you impact it.”
Kuczynski’s talk on campus will bring him full circle to his early college years. He attended Penn State Hazleton from 2000 to 2002 as a journalism major and political science minor. He had several classes with Tseo, the Penn State Hazleton earth sciences professor after whom the lecture series is named. Kuczynski is the first lecture series speaker who had Tseo as a professor. He said he considers Tseo a major influence on his own teaching style.
“I took his classes because I was trying to cover my baseline course requirements. The way he interacted with me — he really encouraged out-of-the-box thinking. When I talk to my students now, I try to meet them where they are, just as he did. How you think about something is almost more important than what is being said. The seeds of that fundamental thinking were planted for me at Penn State Hazleton,” he said.
His years at Penn State Hazleton set him on a lifetime of learning, he said.
“It was my first time in an independent academic setting, so it all had tremendous impact. I was going to classes and really challenged for the first time," Kuczynski said. "All of those experiences — managing my energy, being disciplined with my time, interacting with peers and faculty — a lot of those first-time impacts were outsized.”
A former journalism major turned attorney turned professor of public administration, Kuczynski said, “My life has taken quite a nonlinear path.” He completed his bachelor’s degree in journalism at University Park, a master’s in communication from Monmouth University, an MBA in International Business from Villanova University, a master's in public administration from Villanova University, a doctorate in public administration from Rutgers University, and a juris doctorate from Mitchell Hamline School of Law.
“All these pathways seem like they were going in different directions," he said, "but it all goes back to helping people, and I love learning. And it all kicked off in Hazleton.”
Kuczynski said he is honored to return to campus as part of a lecture series named for a professor he so admired.
“I hope I do him [Tseo] justice," he said. "The way he accepted various disciplines — the love of learning was there. It was special and should be supported.”
The lecture series is sponsored by the campus’ Lectures and Special Events Committee. Tseo was a scientist but also an artist with wide-ranging interests. He taught at Penn State Hazleton from 1988 until he passed away from brain cancer in 2005. The lecture series honors his memory and wide-ranging interests by featuring speakers from similarly diverse backgrounds.
