Child Welfare Expert Richard Gelles to Speak at Holy Cross

Internationally renowned sociologist Richard Gelles will deliver a lecture on Monday, March 19, at 7 p.m. in Room 401 of the Hogan Campus Center. Gelles' lecture, titled "Children First: Recommendations for Child Welfare Reform," is free and open to the public.

Gelles holds The Joanne and Raymond Welsh Chair of Child Welfare and Family Violence in the School of Social Work at the University of Pennsylvania. As co-director of the Center for Children’s Policy, Practice and Research at the School, his expertise is in child welfare and domestic violence.

Gelles earned his Ph.D. from the University of New Hampshire. He has taught at the University of Rhode Island and Harvard Medical School. He is the author of numerous books, including "Intimate Violence in Families," "The Violent Home: A Study of Physical Aggression Between Husbands and Wives" and "Contemporary Families: A Sociological View."

Gelles' visit is sponsored by the Peace and Conflict Studies concentration at Holy Cross.