Lawlor named Dean of SSA

Edward Lawlor, Associate Professor in the School of Social Service Administration and the Irving B. Harris Graduate School of Public Policy Studies, has been named Dean of the School of Social Service Administration, effective July 1. Lawlor succeeds Professor Jeanne Marsh, who has been Dean of SSA since 1988.

"Eddie Lawlor is an outstanding scholar, creative policy analyst and a much-valued teacher," said President Sonnenschein in announcing the appointment.

"Eddie has accepted the deanship at a most propitious time in the school's history. Under the leadership of Jeanne Marsh, SSA has enjoyed a remarkable decade of program development, research productivity and fundraising success. I am enormously grateful for her dedication to the school and for all her excellent work."

"I am inheriting a very strong school," Lawlor said. "Under Jeanne Marsh's leadership, the school has thrived and grown in both its educational and research programs. The school and the field are in the midst of an exciting time. Welfare reform, managed care and changes in child welfare are creating new demands for social services and the social work profession." In addition to his faculty positions, Lawlor has been Director of the Center for Health Administration Studies and of the Graduate Program in Health Administration and Policy Studies. He is also founder and Director of the Chicago Health Policy Research Council. An expert on health policy and related topics of social policy, he has conducted extensive research on social policy issues, including aging, AIDS, financing health care, the future of Medicare, and health reform of Central and Eastern Europe. Lawlor received his Ph.D. from Brandeis University in 1984, the same year he joined the Chicago faculty. He has held a joint appointment in SSA and the Harris School since 1990.