Ohio Northern University President Daniel A. DiBiasio announced today that Richard Bales, director of the Chase Center for Excellence in Advocacy at Northern Kentucky University Chase College of Law, has been named dean of ONU’s Pettit College of Law. Bales replaces Stephen C. Veltri, who has served as interim dean for the past year, and David C. Crago, who became ONU’s provost and vice president of academic affairs last summer.

“Ohio Northern University is pleased to welcome Dean Bales to our campus and leadership team,” DiBiasio said. “Rick’s impeccable academic credentials and scholarly body of work, along with his enthusiasm and passion for teaching students, make him the ideal choice to head the Pettit College of Law.”

Bales, who joined Northern Kentucky University Chase College of Law in 1998, has authored or co-authored five books and more than 80 scholarly articles. He has spoken widely on topics pertaining to dispute resolution, labor/employment law, and innovative ways of teaching law. Bales spent July 2010 as a Fulbright Senior Specialist in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and, before starting at ONU, he will spend May 2013 as a Fulbright Senior Specialist in Jakarta, Indonesia. He has spoken on labor/employment or ADR topics in Russia, Turkey, Malaysia, Italy, Cambodia, France, Vietnam, Colombia and Australia.

Drawn to apply at Ohio Northern by the strong sense of community among the faculty, staff, students and alumni, Bales said, “I am extremely proud to become dean of this purpose-driven, student-centered law college. I am looking forward to continuing Ohio Northern’s strong tradition of innovative law teaching, personal approach to legal education, and consistently strong bar passage and employment statistics.”

Bales is an elected member of the American Law Institute and a fellow of the American Bar Foundation. He is actively involved in several sections of the American Bar Association, and chairs the ABA committee in charge of the national Negotiation Competition. He received several university-wide teaching and scholarship awards at NKU Chase.

“Rick is a great addition to the institution,” said Crago. “I am confident he will work closely with the faculty and staff to maintain and enhance the excellent tradition and reputation of the law college. I also would like to acknowledge Stephen Veltri’s strong leadership and dedication while serving as interim dean.”

Before arriving at Chase, Bales taught at the University of Montana Law School and the Southern Methodist University Law School in Dallas, and he served as an adjunct instructor at the University of Houston Law School. Prior to that, he litigated employment cases for the Houston-based law firm of Baker Botts and the Cleveland-based law firm of BakerHostetler. He earned his law degree from Cornell Law School in 1993.