Dean Mitchel Wallerstein has announced that Grant Reeher has been named the new director of the 鈥檚 . The institute, created in 1996, advances scholarship in three important areas central to the school鈥檚 mission: nonprofit organization and management; law and politics; and the philosophical and political theories and practices of citizenship throughout the world. Running through these three areas is a commitment also central to Maxwell: to produce scholarship that actively engages important policy debates.
Reeher has been a member of the school鈥檚 political science department since 1992, the same year that he earned his Ph.D.聽at Yale University. His research focuses on democratic processes and the dynamics of representation, social justice, health-care politics and policy, and legislative behavior. Reeher is the author or coauthor of three books: 鈥淐lick on Democracy: The Internet’s Power to Change Political Apathy into Civic Action鈥� (Westview Press, 2008); 鈥淔irst Person Political: Legislative Life and the Meaning of Public Service鈥� (NYU Press, 2006); and 鈥淣arratives of Justice: Legislators鈥� Beliefs About Distributive Fairness鈥� (University of Michigan Press, 1996).
He was an editor of and contributor to several other works, including 鈥淭he Trusted Leader: Building the Relationships that Make Government Work鈥� (CQ Press, 2007) and 鈥淭he Insider’s Guide to Political Internships鈥� (Basic Books, 2002). Reeher is currently at work on two more books on political representation and equality; he writes regularly for local and national media and is a regular radio and television commentator on a range of political issues. From 1995-97, he was a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Scholar in Health Policy Research at the University of Michigan.
鈥淧rofessor Reeher鈥檚 commitment to the Maxwell School and to the Campbell Institute鈥檚 mission of studying democracy and governance makes him an ideal choice to lead the institute through its second decade,” Wallerstein says.聽“Grant鈥檚 research, including his current initiative, 鈥楥NY Speaks鈥� (which he co-leads with Maxwell professor Tina Nabatchi), embodies Scholarship in Action. I think that the late professor and former dean, Alan “Scotty” Campbell, for whom public service and scholarship were so important, would be delighted with Grant鈥檚 appointment to lead the institute that bears his name.鈥�
The Campbell Institute is home to a set of distinctive individual, complementary programs in governance and leadership, law and politics, nonprofit management and citizenship. Currently, there are 20 affiliated faculty members, seven Ph.D. students, and seven M.P.A. students. The institute facilitates scholarly discussion as well as research and teaching by sponsoring lectures and research seminars and by seeding innovative research. It is home to the popular State of Democracy Lecture Series, which provides a forum for dialogue about public issues by bringing renowned scholars to campus to speak about current events and issues.
Reeher will take on his new role immediately and says, 鈥淚鈥檓 delighted to have this opportunity to help lead Campbell. The institute is filled with great colleagues doing interesting and important work on real-world leadership challenges in politics, government, law and the nonprofit sector, and on central questions of public well-being, participation and citizenship. I look forward to working with them to strengthen and expand the institute鈥檚 mission.鈥�
