Zeger van der Wal is a seasoned lecturer, researcher, and consultant in the areas of organizational values and culture, integrity management, administrative reform, performance management, and work motivation. Currently, he is a senior Faculty member at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, based at Asia’s no. 1 university NUS. In 2014, he was awarded the prestigious Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) Faculty Research Fellowship as well as the school’s Teaching Excellence Award. In January 2015, he was appointed Assistant Dean of Research and Associate Editor of Public Administration Review. In March 2015, NUS bestowed the Annual Teaching Excellence Award (ATEA) upon him.
In recent years, he has developed an active portfolio of over 40 executive education and consulting assignments on integrity management, collaborative governance, public service motivation, stakeholder management, and performance management. Clients include: Ministry of Home Affairs, The Netherlands, GIZ, Sri Lanka Public Service Commission, Malaysia Anti-Corruption Academy, Home Team Academy Singapore, Ministry of Transport Singapore, Monetary Authority Singapore, Indian Economic Service, Indonesian Auditor Office, UNDP, Toyota Asia-Pacific, VISA, and Civil Service College Singapore.
Van der Wal has educated and trained over 2000 graduate students and senior officials across the globe. Teaching, research, and consulting assignments have taken him to Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Kazakhstan, Laos, Malaysia, Oman, Singapore, Thailand, The Netherlands, UK, USA, and Vietnam. He has held visiting fellowships at American University and Syracuse University in the USA, and Australia National University.
He has (co)authored over 75 publications, including books, journal articles, and op-ed pieces in magazines and newspapers. Top-tier journals which have published his work include International Public Management Journal, Public Administration Review, Public Administration, Administration & Society, American Review of Public Administration, Public Management Review, and Journal of Business Ethics. His main publications have been translated into Russian and Chinese. Currently, he is working on a textbook geared towards MPA, MBA, and executive education classrooms, titled: “The 21st Century Public Manager. Trends, Demands, Competencies”.
He obtained his PhD in Public Administration cum laude (with distinction) from VU University, The Netherlands, in 2008. In that same year, he was awarded the National Postdoc Award from the Netherlands Institute of Government (NIG). He worked at the VU University as Assistant Professor from 2008 to 2012. Before he entered academic life he worked as policy maker for the Municipality of Amsterdam, and later as project assistant for the province of Southern Holland. Zeger received his Master’s in Political Science from the University of Amsterdam in 2001.