Ralph W. Conant


Ralph Wendell Conant was an American writer and researcher in the areas of social policy, metropolitan governance, and regional planning. Conant is also the former president of Shimer College and Unity College.

Early life and education

Ralph Wendell Conant was born on September 7, 1926.
He holds a BA degree from the University of Vermont and PhD and a MA degree from the University of Chicago, where he studied public administration, urban politics and political philosophy.

Career

He served as faculty at several institutions and as a staff member at advocacy groups and research groups.
From 1975 to 1978, he was president of Shimer College. From 1978–1980, he was president of Unity College in Maine.
He has served on the faculty of Michigan State University ; staff, National Municipal League ; Lecturer, Graduate School of Public Administration, New York University, 1958–1959; Executive Director, Citizens for Michigan ; faculty, University of Denver ; as Assistant Director, Joint Center for Urban Studies, MIT-Harvard ; Lecturer, Graduate School of Social Work, Boston College, 1965–1967; Director of Research, New England Economic Research Foundation, 1968–1969; Associate Director, Lemberg Center for the Study of Violence, Brandeis University. Lecturer, Southern Police Institute, Louisville, KY, 1970–1974.
He was founding President, Southwest Center for Urban Research, Houston and Professor of Urban Design, Rice [University School of Architecture], Professor of Political Science, University of Houston, Texas Southern University, Baylor College of Medicine, and University of Texas School of Public Health.
He was a citizen member of the New England Regional Commission on Comprehensive Health Planning. Since 1980, he has served as a member of the Maine State Board of Education, as special assistant to the president at Mercy College, a Senior Fellow at the Phelps-Stokes Fund in Washington, DC. Executive Director, Maine Common Cause. He ran twice for the US Congress in Maine’s First Congressional District, 1984 and 1986 and in 1990 for the State Senate in his home district.
He was president of the Asgard Foundation; an author, and president of Conant Associates.

Personal life and death

He was married to Sheila M. Conant and lived in Trinidad, California. He owned a farm in Maine dating to the family settlement in 1771 before dying in 2017.

Publications

Books

  • The Public Library and the City
  • The State’s Biggest Business: Local and Regional Problems
  • The Politics of Community Health
  • Problems of Research in Community Violence
  • The Prospects for Revolution
  • The Metropolitan Library
  • Urban Perspectives: Politics and Policies
  • The Conant Report: A Study of the Education of Librarians
  • Cutting Loose: From Employee to Entrepreneur: Making the Transition
  • Using Consultants
  • Private Means Public Ends: Private Business in Social Service Delivery
  • Toward a More Perfect Union: The Governance of Metropolitan America
  • ''City of Destiny: Denver in the Making''

Monographs

  • The Politics of Regional Planning
  • Bibliography of Social Scientific Studies of the Fluoridation Controversy
  • The Nature of Civil Protest
  • ''Public School Finance: Toward a More Level Playing Field for Our Youth''

Government and commissioned studies

  • ''The Effectiveness of Metropolitan Planning''

Contributions to other works

  • Foreword to Invisible Cage, A Memoir by Maxine Kurtz

Unpublished manuscripts

  • The Politics of Metropolitan Consolidation in a Michigan Area
  • Metropolitan Problems and Politics: A Seminar
  • An Evaluation of Fair Housing, Incorporated
  • The Political Aspects of Health Planning in Berkshire County : A Report to the Berkshire County Health Planning Association
  • ''The Professional, Business, and Economic Service Needs of the Residents of the Suburban Library System''