Professor Orr’s research is in the areas of American government and politics, urban politics, race and politics, urban public policy, and the politics of urban schools. He is the author of two books, Black Social Capital: The Politics of School Reform in Baltimore (University Press of Kansas, 1999), which won the Policy Studies Organization’s Aaron Wildavsky Award for the best book published in 1999, and The Color of School Reform: Race, Politics and the Challenge of Urban Education (Princeton University Press, 1999), with Jeffrey Henig, Richard C. Hula and Desiree Pedescleaux, which was named the best book in 1999 by the American Political Science Association’s (APSA) Urban Politics Section. He is also the author of numerous scholarly articles, essays, and reviews. He is currently gathering data for a study of the community organizing efforts of local affiliates of the Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF), a national network of local, community-based organizations founded by the late Saul Alinsky. He also conducts research on various aspects of politics and urban policy pertaining to Providence, Rhode Island. Professor Orr has held a number of fellowships, including an appointment as Research Fellow at the Brookings Institution, a Presidential Fellowship from the University of California, Berkeley, and a fellowship from the Ford Foundation. During 2003-04, Professor Orr served as President of the APSA Organized Section on Urban Politics. He is a member of the Governing Board of the Urban Affairs Association, and serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Urban Affairs and Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis. In addition, he served on the APSA Ralph Bunche Book Award Committee (2002-03), the APSA Strategic Planning Committee (1999-2000), the executive council of the APSA Urban Politics Section (1995-1997 & 1999-2001), the editorial board of Urban Affairs Review (1995-1998) and the executive council of the National Conference of Black Political Scientists (1995-1998).