Irene Rubin, a long-time NIU professor of public administration, retired on Sept. 1, but is spending her retirement helping students.

“I told my Ph. D students I’d see them through,” Rubin said.

Rubin began her teaching career at Lewis University in Romeoville where, after three years, she went to the University of Maryland at College Park. After a two-year stint in Maryland, she found her home at NIU.

In her 23 years at NIU, Rubin said she averaged two and a half classes a semester.

Rubin loves to teach and said she is leading a “full, active retirement.”

Currently, Rubin is still working with the international students program. Next week, she will be teaching public officials of Sri Lanka, an Asian country that is an island south of India.

The Sri Lankans are visiting NIU for public administration training.

“She has an international reputation in public budget and finance,” said MPA coordinator Vicki Clarke.

As a retiree, Rubin is still teaching on a one-on-one basis from her home. She also is continuing to write with her husband, Herbert Rubin, a NIU retired sociology professor. Together, they have already written a couple of books, including one Rubin used in her class called “Hearing Data.”

Rubin’s resume also includes being the first woman editor of the Public Administration Review, a bimonthly journal in the field of public administration for more than 60 years. She was the editor from 1996 to 1999.

The Public Administration division, a branch of the Political science department, has recently ranked 35 out of 253 in the U.S. News and World Report rankings of colleges.

“A significant portion of our success is due to our faculty and staff, including Dr. Rubin,” Clarke said.