Robert L. Bland is Endowed Professor of local government (2014-present) in the department of public administration at the University of North Texas, and a premier scholar and educator of local government finance. He received a B.A. in biology and history from Pepperdine University (1973), both the M.P.A. (1975) and M.B.A. (1976) from the University of Tennessee, and the Ph.D. from the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh (1981), before joining UNT (1982-present) where he served as Chair (1992-2013) and received its Eminent Faculty Award (2023). He built high quality training programs and designed the premier state testing program for local finance officers. In addition to numerous scholarly articles and chapters, his books include Budgeting: A Guide for Local Governments (1997; 4th edition, 2019) and A Revenue Guide for Local Governments (1989; 2005), both published by the International City/County Management Association. ICMA awarded him the Sweeney Memorial Academic Award (1987) and elected him as an honorary lifetime member (2017). He is an elected NAPA fellow (2012) and served as the chair of ABFM (2022), a member of the board of directors of PFP, Inc. (2018-2023), and is currently ABFM’s GASAC representative (2024-).