Ron Huff to Direct Public Policy School

HUFF TO DIRECT OHIO STATE'S PUBLIC POLICY SCHOOL

     COLUMBUS -- C. Ronald Huff has been named director of The
Ohio State University School of Public Policy and Management, one
of the nation's leading schools of public affairs and public
administration.

     The Ohio State Board of Trustees appointed Huff Friday (2/4)
to the post through June 1997.

     Huff, a nationally known specialist on crime and criminal
justice policy, is director of the Criminal Justice Research
Center at Ohio State and a professor who teaches courses on
criminal and juvenile justice and human relations.

     He has written or co-written eight books, including The Gang
Intervention Handbook, published last year; and the 1990 book
Gangs in America, as well as more than 50 scholarly papers and
monographs.

     "We're delighted that a scholar of Dr. Huff's stature is
willing to take on leadership responsibilities," said Joseph A.
Alutto, dean of the College of Business.  "He has a unique blend
of commitment to scholarship and public service that is essential
to the programs within the School of Public Policy and
Management."

     Former director Astrid E. Merget, senior adviser to Donna
Shalala, secretary of health and human services, said of Huff:
"He has great intellectual skill, a marvelous personal style of
leadership and a grasp of the trends going on in our field.  He
has the support and confidence of the faculty, staff, students
and alumni."

     A faculty member for 20 years, 15 at Ohio State, Huff said
his new post provides a challenge to be more involved in the
leadership and management of the school.

     "The most important thing is having the confidence of my
colleagues," he said.  "To have them vote for me as director of
the school is very gratifying."

     The school has been ranked consistently among the top 15 out
of the 220 schools of public policy and management in the country
by rating organizations and among the top eight public
institutions.

     Huff said, "We have a very competent staff, high quality
faculty and very bright students.  It's a tough combination to
beat.  We've developed a remarkable degree of integration, both
intellectually and operationally."

     The Ohio State school has 10.4 full-time-equivalent faculty
members and 200 students, 33 in the doctoral program and the rest
about evenly divided among two master's degree programs:  the
Master of Arts for professionals in the field and the Master of
Public Administration for full-time students without significant
management or policy experience.

     The faculty have attracted many grants to research issues
for federal, state and local government agencies.  The school
offers a number of other public services including workshops for
first-year legislators, policy round-table discussions, and
continuing education programs for practicing public
administrators and managers.

     "The school's programs demonstrate the university's
commitment to helping federal, state and local governments with
their problems. This is especially important here in Ohio's
capital city," he said.

     Huff has taught at the University of California at Irvine
and Purdue University; worked in corrections, mental health and
children's services; and served as a consultant to such agencies
as the U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Senate Judiciary
Committee, the FBI National Academy and the State of Hawaii, and
to Price Waterhouse.

     His recent honors include the Donald R. Cressey Award for
Significant Contributions to Criminology and Justice from the
National Council on Crime and Delinquency and the Paul Tappan
Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Field of Criminology
from the Western Society of Criminology.

     Huff has a doctorate in sociology from Ohio State, a Master
of Social Work degree from the University of Michigan and a
bachelor's degree in psychology from Capital University.

     Huff succeeds Merget who is working on integrating services
in the Department of Health and Human Services and other agencies
and developing strategies for implementing recommendations from
the National Performance Review for reinventing government.
Merget has a leave of absence from Ohio State and plans on
returning to the faculty in 1995.

     The School of Public Policy and Management began 25 years
ago as a division in the college and acquired its current status
in 1974.

                                #

Contact:  C. Ron Huff, (614) 292-4544.
Written by Tom Spring.


[Submitted by: REIDV  (reidv@ccgate.ucomm.ohio-state.edu)
               
Fri, 04 Feb 1994 15:27:20 -0500 (EST)]
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