OSU FACULTY MEMBER JOHN ROBERTS NAMED DEPUTY CHAIRMAN OF NEH

COLUMBUS - John W. Roberts, chair of the Department of African American and African Studies at The Ohio State University, has been named deputy chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Roberts's appointment was announced Monday (1/31) by the White House. It becomes effective on Feb. 22.

"John Roberts has clearly demonstrated his leadership as a scholar, teacher and administrator while working both at the University of Pennsylvania and at Ohio State University," said NEH Chairman William R. Ferris. "He brings a deep commitment to the humanities that will serve the agency well as it shares its important programs with all Americans."

Roberts has been a professor of African American and African studies and of English at Ohio State since 1996 and department chair since 1998. Previously, he was director of the Afro- American studies program and associate professor of folklore and folklife at Penn.

He is widely published in the areas of African American folklore and literature and also teaches American fiction and folklore, and folklore theory. He is the author of From Trickster to Badman: The Black Folk Hero in Slavery and Freedom and From Hucklebuck to Hip: Social Dance in the African American Community in Philadelphia.

Currently a member of the advisory board of the Smithsonian Institution's Folklife and Cultural Studies Programs, Roberts is a past president of the both the American Folklore Society and the Association for African and African American Folklore. He has a B.A. in English from Tusculum College, an M.A. in English from Columbia University and a Ph.D. in English with a specialization in folklore from Ohio State.

As deputy chairman, Roberts will be responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operations of NEH, an independent federal agency that supports learning in history, literature, philosophy and other areas of the humanities.

"I'm very excited about the challenges ahead," Roberts said. "I look forward to working with the others at NEH on the initiatives under way and perhaps charting some new directions."

While at the NEH, Roberts will be on a leave of absence from Ohio State.

"We will miss Professor Roberts at Ohio State," said President William E. Kirwan. "But, this is a wonderful opportunity for him to extend his expertise to a larger constituency, and I am pleased that John's outstanding ability has been recognized in this way. The NEH will benefit, as we have, from his wisdom and leadership."

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Contacts: John W. Roberts, (614) 292-3700 Jim Turner, NEH, (202) 606-8671