Denhardt started his career as an assistant professor at the
University of Central Florida. He taught at the
University of New Orleans,
University of Kansas,
University of Missouri,
University of Colorado, and
University of Delaware. Denhardt was professor and director of the leadership program at the Price School of Public Policy at the University of Southern California. Denhardt began his professional journey as a research assistant at the Center for Developmental Change, University of Kentucky, from 1967 to 1968. At the same time, he was a doctoral research fellow at the Department of Political Science, University of Kentucky. He was assistant professor at Department of Political Science, University of New Orleans, from 1968 to 1971; associate professor at Department of Political Science, University of New Orleans, from 1971 to 1974; associate professor at Department of Political Science, University of Kansas, from 1974 to 1980; professor at Department of Public Administration, University of Missouri-Columbia, from 1980 to 1990; professor, Graduate School of Public Affairs, University of Colorado, from 1990 to 1991; Walter and Betty Boardman Professor of Public Administration and Environmental Policy at the Department of Public Administration, University of Central Florida, from 1991 to 1995. Denhardt was a past president of the
American Society for Public Administration (ASPA), a nationwide organization of academics and practitioners in the field of public administration at all levels of government. He was the founder and first chair of ASPA's National Campaign for Public Service, an effort to assert the dignity and worth of public service across the nation. He was also a member of the
National Academy of Public Administration and a Fellow of the
Canadian Centre for Management Development. He received the
Dwight Waldo Award for lifetime achievement in scholarship from the
American Society for Public Administration in 2004. == Publications ==