September 13, 2001 CONTACT: Lisa Lacher, (515) 271-3119 DRAKE PROF TO DISCUSS HIS WORK ON HOMELESSNESS R. Dean Wright, professor of sociology at Drake University, will discuss "Discovering Homelessness: Teaching, Scholarship and the Real World" when he gives the annual Luther W. Stalnaker Lecture at Drake on Thursday, Sept. 20. The lecture, which is free and open to the public, will start at 7 p.m. in Sheslow Auditorium in Old Main, 26th Street and University Avenue. A reception will follow in Levitt Hall in Old Main. Professor Wright joined the Drake faculty in 1971 and teaches courses in poverty, homelessness, criminology, delinquency and research methodology. He has conducted extensive research on homelessness and devoted much of his sabbatical last year to studying death and dying in local homeless shelters. He is past president and currently treasurer of the Midwest Sociological Society. In addition, he is immediate past chair of the Board of the Greater Des Moines Salvation Army and past chair of the Iowa Criminal and Juvenile Justice Advisory Council. He also is a member of Attorney General Tom Miller’s Task Force on Juvenile Justice and chaired Attorney General Campbell’s Blue Ribbon Task Force on Sentencing and Gov. Branstad’s Task Force on Homelessness. He is past chair of Compassion in Action for the Des Moines Area Religious Council and is currently a member of its foundation board of directors. In addition, he serves on numerous community, state, regional and national boards and commissions. Professor Wright recently was inducted into the Iowa Volunteer Hall of Fame and has received the Iowa Corrections Association Public Service Award, the Madelyn M. Levitt Distinguished Community Service Award and the Midwest Sociological Society Award for Distinguished Service. Wright’s lecture will be the 17th of the series at Drake honoring the memory of Luther W. Stalnaker, dean of the College of Liberal Arts from 1940 to 1954. This series is a joint undertaking of the College of Arts and Sciences and its emeriti faculty. For more information, call (515) 271-3939.