Dr. Keon Chi, 71, a long-time staffer for the Council of State Governments and editor in chief of the Book of the States, died in a tragic automobile accident in front of CSG's headquarters building in Lexington, Ky. last week.
Keon often collaborated with NCSL on various projects, including particularly the Joint Project on Term Limits, which our two organizations conducted with the State Legislative Leaders Foundation. He had many friends in state government around the country and in the American Political Science Association, and we will miss him.
Following is a nice tribute to Keon from CSG's executive director, Dan Sprague:
To: CSG Members and Friends
From: Dan Sprague, CSG Executive Director
As you may have heard, our beloved Dr. Keon Chi died in a tragic traffic accident Wednesday evening Jan. 9. Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 13 at Georgetown College, John L. Hill Chapel, in Georgetown, Ky.
Keon was a nationally renowned and esteemed state government expert. He was CSG's editor-in-chief of The Book of the States, the premier annual reference book on American state government, and more recently became the Director of CSG's nascent Center for State Governance Transformation.
As I said to my staff and colleagues on Thursday morning, we have lost an incredibly gifted and truly treasured human being. This is a devastating loss for all who know Keon.
In addition to his seminal work with CSG since 1981, including authorship of more than 100 journal articles, monographs, book chapters and columns on cutting-edge issues, Keon also served on the editorial and review boards of Public Administration Review, State and Local Government Review, American Journal of Public Administration and ASPA's Public Integrity Journal. He also served on the Kennedy School's Innovation Panel at Harvard University.
Keon was a professor and academic dean at Georgetown College, where he taught government and political science for 36 years mentoring and inspiring literally thousands of college students. He held masters' and doctoral degrees in government from Claremont Graduate University in California.
Due to his national reputation, Keon was often invited to speak to state legislative committees, national organizations, and frequently was a spokesperson with the American Political Science Association, the American Society of Public Administration, and the World Future Society.
Keon is survived by his wife In Soon, his two sons Ron and John and their families, including three grandchildren.
I am in conversations with CSG's current and past leaders and staff, along with the Chi family, about how CSG plans to acknowledge Keon's extraordinary contributions tied to our future service to states. We will be sharing our memorial plans with you in the near future, we hope you can be a part of this commemoration of our dearest friend and colleague.
Ate breakfast with Dr. Chi one morning in November last year when he was in Oklahoma City, OK for the annual CSG meeting. He brought me up to date on his career and indicated that he was really enjoyed being the Editor of "The Book of the States." Had not seen him since an American Political Science Association meeting many years ago. He will be missed by many.
Posted by: Tom Clapper | February 06, 2008 at 07:32 AM