Expert in Community Reinvestment and Economic Development
Joins Chapin Hall Center for Children

Chicago, IL, February 4, 2008 - Malcolm Bush has joined the senior staff of Chapin Hall Center for Children, a policy research center at the University of Chicago. Dr. Bush is a nationally recognized expert in community reinvestment and economic development, particularly in low- and moderate-income communities.

Dr. Bush comes to Chapin Hall from the Woodstock Institute, a nonprofit research center in Chicago, where as president he directed research and policy projects in such areas as: access to capital, credit, insurance, and other financial services; discrimination in the home-buying process; the effect of tax policy on low-income communities; financial literacy; predatory home mortgage and consumer lending; community reinvestment legislation; and the economic development potential of social service organizations. He also led successful negotiations between community groups and financial institutions to increase those institutions' goals for home and small business lending and the provision of bank services in lower-income communities.

Beyond the United States, he has supervised research projects with the New Economics Foundation in London and the International Center for Research and Policy on Childhood in Rio de Janeiro.

Prior to his tenure at the Woodstock Institute, Dr. Bush was senior vice president of Voices for Illinois Children, where he supervised research and policy development related to urban educational reform, state tax reform and child welfare reform. He has been a faculty member at both the University of Chicago's School of Social Service Administration and Northwestern University, where he taught urban affairs and education.

"We are delighted to have Malcolm join the Chapin Hall staff," said Matthew Stagner, Chapin Hall executive director. "His expertise and interests are clearly in line with our program of applied research, and his focus on economic factors affecting communities where vulnerable families live will deepen our capacity for cross-systems analysis of programs designed to improve the well-being of children and youth."

Chapin Hall Center for Children is an independent applied research center at the University of Chicago that provides rigorous research and innovative ideas to policymakers, government officials, service providers, and funders working to improve the lives of children and adolescents. Chapin Hall's multidisciplinary research encompass the needs of all children and adolescents, with special attention to populations experiencing significant problems—such as maltreatment, poverty, and mental and physical illness—and to the service systems designed to address those challenges.

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