About Us

The Regional Research Institute for Human Services (RRI) was established in 1972 by the School of Social Work at Portland State University with a grant from the Social and Rehabilitation Services, U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare.

As the research arm of the Graduate School of Social Work, the RRI supports the research interests of the faculty, doctoral and masters students by providing an infrastructure for research projects, assisting in the development of grants and contracts, and offering consultation on project design and analysis.

The original grant proposal to the Social and Rehabilitation Services (SRS) was written in the spring of 1972 by John Longres and Art Emlen, with support from a second year Master student, Nancy Koroloff. SRS was awarding ten grants to establish regional research centers throughout the nation, each focused on a different aspect of social services.

The original proposal described a child welfare research center for Portland State. When Secretary of HEW Elliot Richardson came to Portland, he and Senator Mark Hatfield announced the funding of a research institute in the area of delinquency prevention with core funding of $100,000 per year for five years.

Consequently, the RRI was known as the Regional Research Institute for Youth Development and Delinquency Prevention for the first year of its existence. Of the 10 original research centers, Portland State's is the only one still in existence.

The first director, Edward Mech, was hired in July of 1972. He came on leave from his position as professor and research director at the Graduate School of Social Service Administration at Arizona State University and was selected because of his expertise in juvenile delinquency.

The RRI was located in Harder House on the Portland State University campus and, after one year, had 12 staff and research projects in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Alaska. During academic year 1973-74, Edward Mech and Arthur Emlen were appointed as co-directors of the RRI. During that year the name of the Institute was changed to the Regional Research Institute for Human Services to more accurately describe the varied nature of its research.

By 1975, with Art Emlen as full time director, the RRI had 11 projects, $600,000 in grants and a staff of 16. In 1976, the RRI moved from its offices in Harder House to a remodeled cafeteria in the Ondine Building at the edge (then) of PSU's campus.

In 1989, Art Emlen retired and, after a year in which Barbara Friesen and Paul Koren served as interim directors, a new director was hired. William H. Feyerherm came to Portland from the School of Social Work at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, and was a recognized expert in the field of juvenile delinquency.

During his tenure as director, he developed grant funding in many areas, including studies of the juvenile justice system, drug use prevalence and research on welfare reform in Oregon. Bill also had a vast storehouse of knowledge about computers and computer networks and was responsible for the advancement of computer resources within the RRI.

In 1995, Bill was appointed Associate Vice Provost for Research and Sponsored Projects, continuing to act as co-director of the RRI with Nancy Koroloff for the next two years. In 1997, Nancy Koroloff was named the fourth director of the RRI.

In April of 2004, the RRI moved to new space in the Cingular Wireless Building, located at 1600 SW 4th Avenue, Suite 900.

Nancy Koroloff accepted the position of Associate Vice Provost for the Office of Research & Sponsored Projects in September, 2007. Laurie Powers is the current Director of the RRI.