Gordon Mercer, director of the Western Carolina University Public Policy Institute and associate dean of research and graduate studies, is the recipient of the North Carolina Political Science Association’s Distinguished Public Service Award for 2005.

A resident of Franklin, Mercer received as part of the association’s annual conference, held at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke.

Past recipients of the award include Merle Black, professor of political science at Emory University and noted expert on Southern politics; Elaine Marshall, N.C. secretary of state; and the late Liston B. Ramsey, former speaker of the N.C. House of Representatives.

The association presented the award to Mercer in recognition of his leadership role in founding Western’s Public Policy Institute in 1998. The Public Policy Institute studies issues of importance to Western North Carolina and beyond and develops policy options to address those issues.

Established in 1971, the North Carolina Political Science Association is made up of political scientists from more than 50 colleges and universities in North Carolina, along with legislators and governmental officials.