Mary Schiavo, Former FAA Inspector, Joins Faculty

FORMER U.S. TRANSPORTATION INSPECTOR GENERAL JOINS FACULTY

COLUMBUS -- The Ohio State University's new Enarson Professor of Public
Policy and Management hopes to inspire students to follow in her footsteps
and take action against government waste and corruption.  Mary Fackler
Schiavo will begin her teaching assignments as 1997 Enarson Executive in
Residence spring quarter.

A former Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Transportation, with
oversight authority over the FAA, Schiavo gained national attention for
blowing the whistle on lax FAA enforcement and inspections, and for
revealing safety problems at VALUJET and other airlines.  She also
demonstrated many problems with airline and airport security and recovered
millions of dollars in claims against manufacturers of bogus airline parts. 

Frustrated by an unwillingness in Washington to bring change to the FAA,
Schiavo has written a soon-to-be-released book that documents problems and
crimes in the aviation industry.  It will be excerpted on 60 Minutes on
March 23 and in Time Magazine on March 24. 

"We are excited to bring Professor Schiavo to Ohio State," said C. Ronald
Huff, director of the School of Public Policy and Management.  "She has a
wealth of experience in government and will be a memorable teacher."

A native of northwest Ohio, Schiavo attended Ohio State 
University twice--obtaining her pilot's license and completing her freshman
and sophomore classes in 1973-74.  She completed her bachelor's degree at
Harvard and returned to Ohio State to earn a master's degree in public
administration in 1977.  She received her law degree from New York
University in 1980.  Schiavo has been named a White House Fellow and an OSU
University Fellow.

During her one-year tenure as Enarson Professor, Schiavo will teach five
courses, including a course on practical politics and how politics affects
the works of government.  She will also teach 'Ethics for Public Officials'
and 'Hands-on Common Sense Management' and will deliver several other
lectures and workshops.  

"The FAA makes a perfect case study", says Schiavo.  "While in Washington,
it was my job to help improve the FAA.  I testified before Congress about
the same problems again and again: airline inspection, airline security.
Nothing was much changed.  The FAA is supposed to be a safety agency but
they look the other way.  So I wrote this book and blew the whistle on them.
Something has got to get through to them.  Perhaps the public can."

   Schiavo believes there are many similar issues that deserve attention and
hopes to teach her students to take a stand against waste and corruption.
"Who better than the fresh minds at Ohio State to do it," she says. 

"I had a wonderful whirlwind first year of college here," says Schiavo.
"It is my first love."  She also says the timing of her return--as it
relates to the fortunes of the football team--is no coincidence.  "The last
time I was here, they won the Rose Bowl.  Now that they've won it again, I
can come back." 

The Enarson Executive-in-Residence is an endowment initiated by former Ohio
State President Harold Enarson (who was a Professor of Public Policy and
Management) and his wife, Audrey.  The Enarson Professorship is a position
offered to a recognized professional with extensive government experience.
Schiavo is the third Enarson Professor, succeeding former state budget
directors Bill Shkurti and Lee Walker.

#

CONTACT: Amy Murray, University Communications, 292-8385, or Mary Schiavo
(pronounced Ski-AH-voe), (614) 292-7468 (after March 31).
Ms. Schiavo will be traveling next week to promote her book; contact can be
arranged through Amy Murray, 292-8385. 


[Submitted by: Ruth Gerstner  (gerstner.2@osu.edu)
               
Fri, 21 Mar 1997 16:34:18 -0500]
All documents are the responsibility of their originator.