Her research focuses on public management, collaboration, conflict resolution, environmental and natural resources management, and public law.
Rosemary O'Leary was the Edwin O. Stene Distinguished Professor of Public Administration at the University of Kansas from 2013 to 2023, following a 24 year career at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs of Syracuse University (Phanstiel Distinguished Chair in Strategic Management and Leadership) and the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University-Bloomington (Professor).
[2] She is also the only person to win four Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs and Administration awards for Best Dissertation (1989), Excellence in Teaching (1996), Distinguished Research (2004), and Excellence in Doctoral Education (2021).
[2] O’Leary has worked in Hong Kong, mainland China, Malaysia, the Philippines, New Zealand, India, Nepal, and the US.
[3] In 2019, the International Research Society for Public Management (IRSPM) established the annual "Rosemary O'Leary Prize for Outstanding Scholarship on Women in Public Administration.