Brian Brauer, the associate director for the Illinois Fire Service Institute, will receive the 2017 Outstanding Dissertation Award on June 21 at Auburn University. Brauer’s doctoral dissertation presented a case study of an Illinois fire department that underwent organizational culture change following a firefighter’s line-of-duty death.
The University Council for Workforce and Human Resource Education will present the award, which recognizes contributions to the knowledge base of its field. The council is comprised of 19 of the nation’s leading universities.
Brauer received his Ed.D. in Educational Policy and Organizational Leadership Development from Illinois in 2016.
Brauer is responsible for overseeing day-to-day operations relative to facility management at the institute and for providing strategic direction for all capital projects. He has been published in a number of trade publications and has made numerous presentations around the United States. In 2012, he traveled to China to present to the Chinese Peoples Armed Forces Police Academy.
The institute is the statutory state fire academy for Illinois. In addition to training provided at its Champaign campus, the institute offers one-day, hands-on classes for fire departments at regional training centers and local fire stations across the state. Its mission is to help firefighters do their work through training, education, information and research.
