Lawlor will lead SSA into future, serving another term as its Dean

Edward Lawlor

Edward Lawlor, who was first named Dean of the School of Social Service Administration in 1998, has been reappointed to another term.

"I am delighted that Dean Lawlor has accepted a second term of office, for SSA is at a very important moment in its distinguished history," said President Randel.

"The social ills that SSA seeks to address press upon us more acutely than ever and in new forms. Their amelioration will require new ideas rooted in the kind of research for which the University stands. And Dean Lawlor brings the fresh perspective, imagination and commitment that will lead SSA in making a difference."

Lawlor, a leading expert on policy analysis methods, health services management and policy, and aging, is a Professor in SSA.

He has published widely on health care administration and policy for the aged and the poor, medical indigence, hospital reimbursement and performance, and health care reform. His book, Redesigning the Medicare Contract: Politics, Markets, and Agency, on Medicare reform, will be published later this year by the University Press.

The founding editor of the Public Policy and Aging Report, Lawlor was a member and secretary on the Chicago Board of Health for 10 years. He has served on numerous policy and advisory bodies in the fields of health care and aging.

Lawlor also is a Professor in the Irving B. Harris Graduate School of Public Policy Studies and holds additional appointments as Senior Scholar in the Center for Clinical Medical Ethics and as Faculty Associate at the Center for Health Administration Studies.

From 1990 to 1998, he directed the Center for Health Administration Studies and the Graduate Program in Health Administration and Policy at the University.

Lawlor received a B.A. in economics from Bowdoin College in 1977, worked as a researcher at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and then received a Ph.D. from the Florence Heller School for Advanced Studies in Social Welfare at Brandeis University in 1984. He joined the University faculty in 1984.

During Lawlor's first term as Dean, SSA recruited 12 new faculty members, implemented a community development program and conducted a nationally-recognized reform of its field education program.