Dr. Trent A. Engbers

Dr. Trent A. Engbers is Professor and Director of the Master of Public Administration Program at the University of Southern Indiana.  He also maintains a secondary appointment as a visiting lecturer at the world ranked Indiana University O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs. He is a former Peace Corp volunteer, an experienced college educator and nonprofit consultant who specializes in supporting nonprofit boards and fundraising initiatives.  He is an award-winning teacher and was appointed a member of the Indiana Commission for Higher Education by Governor Eric Holcomb, where he served from 2019-2021. He recently completed a sabbatical at the University of Haifa in Israel in 2023.  His research on leadership, economic development and civic engagement has been published widely including Social Science Quarterly, Public Administration Review and the Journal of Leadership Education. He is available for consulting services in nonprofit management, board development, program evaluation/surveying and fundraising.

Trent holds degrees from Xavier University, the University of Maryland, University of Missouri and Indiana University. He lives in Evansville with his wife Kimberly and four children.

So this is the typical academic biography if you want to introduce me at a public lecture, but if you want to know what really makes me tick it would be the following:

• My favorite job is "dad" which means I love playing guitar with Reagan, riding horses with Ella Clare and building things with Donald and Trent
• My world view if fundamentally shaped by my Catholic faith
• I married an amazing woman
• I have great parents
• Attributes that I seek: dependence, generosity, struggle, failure and authenticity.
• Life is better when you sometimes act like you are 12.
• There is nothing better than a Saturday morning with a good magazine and a favorite CD
• Most kids call me "Dr. Trent"
• When I was a little my dad took me to see a Four Tops concert instilling in me a lifelong love of classic R&B.