Marion E. Orr is an American
political scientist
Political science is the science, scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of politics, political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated c ...
, currently the
Frederick Lippitt
Frederick Lippitt (December 29, 1916 – May 11, 2005) was an American military officer, attorney, politician, public servant and philanthropist.
He was the scion of a distinguished Rhode Island colonial family, the son of United States Senat ...
Professor of
Public Policy
Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to solve or address relevant and real-world problems, guided by a conception and often implemented by programs. Public p ...
and a professor of political science and
urban studies
Urban studies is based on the study of the urban development of cities. This includes studying the history of city development from an architectural point of view, to the impact of urban design on community development efforts. The core theoretica ...
at
Brown University
Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...
. Orr specializes in
education reform
Education reform is the name given to the goal of changing public education. The meaning and education methods have changed through debates over what content or experiences result in an educated individual or an educated society. Historically, t ...
in the United States, urban politics,
Latino politics, and
African-American politics.
Education and early career
Orr received his undergraduate education from
Savannah State College
)
, established =
, closed =
, type = Public historically black university
, parent = University System of Georgia
, academic_affiliation = Space-grant
, endowment ...
, earning a BA in political science in 1984. He then studied political science at
Atlanta University
Clark Atlanta University (CAU or Clark Atlanta) is a private, Methodist, historically black research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Clark Atlanta is the first Historically Black College or University (HBCU) in the Southern United States. Founde ...
, earning an MA in political science in 1987, followed by a PhD in government and politics at the
University of Maryland
The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...
in 1992.
In 1992 Orr became a Presidential Postdoctoral Fellow at the
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
, and in 1993 he joined the faculty at
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...
.
[ He moved to Brown University in 1999.][
]
Career
Orr has been an author or editor of eight books. He was the solo author of the 1999 book ''Black Social Capital: The Politics of School Reform in Baltimore, 1986-1998''. In ''Black Social Capital'', Orr applies the theory of social capital
Social capital is "the networks of relationships among people who live and work in a particular society, enabling that society to function effectively". It involves the effective functioning of social groups through interpersonal relationships ...
to the topic of education reform in the United States, using the city of Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
as the basis for a case study, and relying on extensive interviews and fieldwork as well as published materials. In a review for the ''American Political Science Review
The ''American Political Science Review'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering all areas of political science. It is an official journal of the American Political Science Association and is published on their behalf by Cambridg ...
'', John Portz wrote that in ''Black Social Capital'' "Orr analyzes the social and political dynamics that stymied or supported major school reform in Baltimore", which constituted "an important contribution to urban studies as well as the general political science literature", including advancing the theory of social capital itself. ''Black Social Capital'' won the Policy Studies Organization Policy Studies Organization (PSO) is an academic organization whose purpose is to advance the study of policy analysis by publishing academic journals, books, sponsoring conferences and producing programs, curriculum, and videos.
History
In 1972, ...
's Aaron Wildavsky Award for the best book published in 1999.
Several of Orr's other works have received major awards. His co-authored book ''The Color of School Reform: Race, Politics and the Challenge of Urban Education'' received the Best Book Award in 2000 from the Urban Politics Section of the American Political Science Association
The American Political Science Association (APSA) is a professional association of political science students and scholars in the United States. Founded in 1903 in the Tilton Memorial Library (now Tilton Hall) of Tulane University in New Orleans, ...
, which is given to the best book published in 2000. He also received the 1995 Rodney Higgins' Best Paper Award for the best paper presented at the National Conference of Black Political Scientists.[ In 2019, Orr was the recipient of the ]Hanes Walton Jr.
Hanes Walton Jr. (September 25, 1941 — January 8, 2013) was an American political scientist and professor of African-American studies who pioneered the study of race in American politics. He was an early advocate for the creation of African-A ...
Career Award from the American Political Science Association, which "recognizes a political scientist whose lifetime of distinguished scholarship has made significant contributions to our understanding of racial and ethnic politics and illuminates the conditions under which diversity and intergroup tolerance thrive in democratic societies."[
From 2008 until 2014,][ Orr was the director of the ]A. Alfred Taubman
Adolph Alfred "Al" Taubman (January 31, 1924 – April 17, 2015) was an American businessman, investor, and philanthropist.
He was convicted in 2002 for a price-fixing scheme involving the top two auction houses in the United States.
Backgro ...
Center for Public Policy at Brown University.[ He has also been the chair of the political science department at Brown University,][ as well as the director of the urban studies program there.][ Orr has been an editor for major journals like the '']Urban Affairs Review
''Urban Affairs Review'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal that covers the field of urban studies, including urban policy, urban economic development and residential and community development. The journal's editors-in-chief are Phil Ashton (Univ ...
'' and the ''Journal of Urban Affairs
The ''Journal of Urban Affairs'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal published ten times per year by Routledge on behalf of the Urban Affairs Association. It was established in 1979 and the current editor-in-chief is Bernadette Hanlon (Ohio Sta ...
''.[
]
Selected works
*"Urban Regimes and Leadership in Detroit", ''Urban Affairs Review'', with Gerry Stoker
Gerry Stoker (born 4 February 1955), is a British political scientist noted for his works on local government and his textbooks. He is also a lecturer at the University of Southampton
, mottoeng = The Heights Yield to Endeav ...
(1994)
*''Black Social Capital: The Politics of School Reform in Baltimore, 1986-1998'' (1999)
*''The Color of School Reform: Race, Politics and the Challenge of Urban Education'', with Jeffrey R. Henig, Richard C. Hula, and Desiree S. Pedescleaux (1999)
*''Latino Mayors: Political Change in the Postindustrial City'', co-edited with Domingo Morel (2018)
Selected awards
*Rodney Higgins Best Paper Award, National Conference of Black Political Scientists (1995)
*Best Book Award, American Political Science Association Urban Politics Section[ (2000)
*]Hanes Walton Jr.
Hanes Walton Jr. (September 25, 1941 — January 8, 2013) was an American political scientist and professor of African-American studies who pioneered the study of race in American politics. He was an early advocate for the creation of African-A ...
Award, American Political Science Association[ (2019)
]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Orr, Marion E.
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
Savannah State University alumni
Atlanta University alumni
University System of Maryland alumni
Duke University faculty
Brown University faculty
American political scientists
21st-century African-American academics
21st-century American academics