New interim director named for the John Glenn Institute

COLUMBUS -- The Ohio State University’s Executive Vice President Barbara R. Snyder announced today (5/16) that she will recommend to President Karen Holbrook the appointment of Lawrence W. Libby as the Interim Director of The John Glenn Institute for Public Service and Public Policy. Subject to approval by the Board of Trustees, his appointment will be effective on July 1.

Libby will replace Professor Deborah Merritt, who is returning to the Moritz College of Law where she holds the John Deaver Drinko-Baker & Hostetler Chair in Law.

Libby is the holder of the C. William Swank Chair in Rural-Urban Policy and professor in the Department of Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics. Prior to coming to Ohio State in 1997, he was professor and department chair of Food and Resource Economics at the University of Florida. In addition, he was a faculty member at Michigan State University from 1970-1987.

“Professor Libby’s experiences as a faculty member at three land-grant universities and his nine years as a department chair will serve him well as he continues to strengthen the Glenn Institute’s academic linkages across colleges and the outreach initiatives that Professor Merritt established during her tenure as director,” Snyder said.

Libby’s research has a multidisciplinary approach, focusing on the intersection of science and policy issues. As the first holder of the Swank Chair in Rural-Urban Policy, he developed the Swank Program in which faculty across the university interact with key stakeholders involved in the use of land and water resources at the urban fringe.

Widely published in book chapters, peer-reviewed journals, research bulletins and extension publications, Libby has maintained an active teaching program in resource economics throughout his career. His service at Ohio State includes committee work at the departmental, college and university levels.

Nationally, he served on the staff of the Secretary of Agriculture as the coordinator for land, air, water and solid waste in the Office of Environmental Quality (on leave from Michigan State University). In addition, he continues to serve in several other advisory roles related to public policy issues. He also served as the president of the American Agricultural Economics Association.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in agricultural science at the University of Maine. At Cornell University, he earned a master’s degree in agricultural economics with a minor in rural sociology and a doctorate in agricultural economics with a minor in public administration, water resources.

“I have always held the Glenn Institute in highest regard and am thrilled at the opportunity of working there directly. My research, teaching, and outreach during the past 35 years have focused on natural resource policy with an interdisciplinary perspective. I know that my experience and interests will complement the well-established array of concerns that the Glenn Institute already addresses so well,” Libby said.