GREGORY CALDEIRA NAMED DISTINGUISHED UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR

   COLUMBUS -- Political scientist Gregory Caldeira, recognized as a national and international leader in public law and judicial politics, has been named a Distinguished University Professor at The Ohio State University.

   At the university's Board of Trustees meeting Friday (6/4), Executive Vice President and Provost Edward J. Ray awarded Caldeira the title and an annual budget of $10,000 for three years to support his academic work.

   "Professor Caldeira's contributions to the university, the national and international political science community, and his students place him among our most accomplished and respected scholars and teachers," Ray said. "He exhibits the values and standards for scholarship that this university holds dear, and he discharges his responsibilities with a degree of excellence to which we all aspire on a daily basis."

   Distinguished University Professors continue their regular program of teaching; research, scholarly or creative work; and service. They are nominated by colleagues at Ohio State. Prominent scholars from outside the university are invited to assess the quality and significance of each nominee's academic accomplishments. The selection this year was made by a committee that included Larry Brown, chair of the Department of Geography; Jessie Au, professor of pharmacy and surgery; Bruce Bursten, professor of chemistry; Liang-Shih Fan, chair of the Department of Chemical Engineering; and Susan Huntington, vice provost for graduate studies and dean of the Graduate School. All are Distinguished University Professors.

   Caldeira, of COLUMBUS (43201), a professor of political science, has established himself nationally and internationally as one of the most eminent scholars in the fields of public law and judicial politics in the United States. He also specializes in American political institutions, interest groups, comparative law and courts.

   "I cannot think of anyone who has given so much to the study of legal institutions," an external evaluator wrote. "Most of what passes for legal scholarship, within the law schools, is formalistic and nonrigorous. Those of us in the law school world, who look for something better, depend on political scientists like Greg Caldeira to give rigor and substance to the study of legal and governmental institutions."

   Another evaluator wrote, "His breadth is quite unusual. Most scholars of institutions study only one branch of government. Caldeira crosses all the lines. This is perhaps a good test for the distinction between a 'good' and a 'distinguished' scholar."

   A member of the Ohio State faculty since 1987, Caldeira was a member of the Distinguished University Professor selection committee in 1996, and was a member of University Senate from 1989 to 1993. Before coming to Ohio State, he was a professor of political science at the University of Iowa.

   He has received many awards, including the American Judicature Society Prize for Best Paper on Law and Courts at the 1997 and 1996 annual meetings of the American Political Science Association and the university's Distinguished Scholar Award in 1994. He has received nearly continuous funding from the National Science Foundation since 1978 and is editor of the American Journal of Political Science, considered by many to be the discipline's top journal.

   Caldeira has played a major role in establishing Ohio State's highly regarded graduate program in judicial politics. He also regularly teaches at the undergraduate level, including the introduction to American politics and advanced courses in constitutional law and judicial politics that are central to Ohio State's pre-law program, and at the graduate level.

   Caldeira earned a Bachelor of Arts in political science from California State University, Stanislaus, and a master's degree and Ph.D. in politics, both from Princeton University.

   "In my judgment [Caldeira] is a truly outstanding social scientist who well merits the distinguished professorship," an evaluator wrote. "Greg's extraordinary productivity is well matched by the exceptionally high quality of his research. His work is widely acclaimed and cited by his colleagues in the profession; he would be on anybody's list of the best political scientists in the law and politics field -- and he certainly is at the top of mine."

Contact: Gregory Caldeira, (614) 292-9649