Brown's former director of the Urban Studies Program began leading the Taubman Center for Public Policy and American Institutions on July 1.
Marion Orr, professor of political science, urban studies and public policy, came to Brown in 1999. He worked with the center's previous director, former Professor of Political Science Darrell West, on a number of research projects including ongoing public opinion polling of the Providence and greater Rhode Island communities.
When Orr was offered the position, he "considered it and decided that it would be an interesting and important job to take on," he said.
"I want to build on the foundation that Darrell West and (the Center's first director) Thomas Anton built," Orr said.
He hopes to increase the center's work in the Providence community - a goal consistent with his specialization in urban studies - increase undergraduate and graduate student involvement and bring high-profile speakers to campus, he said.
"My talents, skills and research interests fit with (the Taubman Center)," Orr said, citing his experience as a researcher and as an administrator.
When West announced in April that he would be leaving Brown at the end of June to take a position at the Brookings Institution, a public policy think tank in Washington, administrators decided that an internal replacement would best meet the needs of the center given the relatively short amount of time they had to fill the position, Dean of the Faculty Rajiv Vohra P'07 told The Herald in April.
Under West, the center raised $10 million for its endowment, added more than two dozen courses to the curriculum and increased the number of faculty involved in public policy.
