Harvard authors receive CASE research award

Professor of Higher Education Richard Chait and William Ryan, research fellow at the Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations at Harvard University, have been named recipients of the Council for Advancement and Support of Education’s (CASE) 2005 Research Writing Awards. These awards recognize outstanding research and writing in the educational advancement disciplines of alumni relations, communications, and development.

Chait and Ryan both received the center’s John Grenzebach Awards for Outstanding Research in Philanthropy. Given annually, this award is named for the founder of John Grenzebach & Associates Inc. (now Grenzebach Glier & Associates), a philanthropic management-consulting firm. The award is co-sponsored by the American Association of Fund-Raising Council Trust for Philanthropy. All of the award winners received monetary prizes and traveled to Miami Beach for the CASE Annual Assembly for a July 16 ceremony.

“The contributions these individuals have made in the areas of research and writing are significant and will undoubtedly lead to new areas of scholarship within the educational advancement field,” said John Lippincott, president of CASE.

Chait and Ryan, along with independent consultant Barbara Taylor, were honored for their book “Governance as Leadership: Reframing the Work of Nonprofit Boards” (John Wiley & Sons, 2004). “The work highlights theories that have transformed the practice of organizational leadership and offers a new framework for governance within nonprofit organizations,” according to CASE.

The Council for Advancement and Support of Education is the largest international association of education institutions, serving more than 3,000 universities, colleges, schools, and related organizations in 46 countries. CASE is a leading resource for professional development, information, and standards in the fields of educational fundraising, communications, and alumni relations.