Lawrence W. Libby was named as the Interim Director of the John Glenn Institute for Public Service and Public Policy on July 1, 2005. He also holds the C. William Swank Endowed Chair in Rural-Urban Policy in the Department of Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics. Before coming to The Ohio State University in 1997, Dr. Libby was Professor, and Chair, of the Food and Resource Economics Department at the University of Florida. From 1970 to 1987 he was on the faculty of the Department of Agricultural Economics at Michigan State University.

His research and work have focused on key issues associated with land and water policy nationally, internationally and at the state and local levels. Dr. Libby has also served in a number of related leadership roles such as working on the staff of the Secretary of Agriculture during the Carter Administration, state forest advisory roles in Michigan, and overseeing efforts of the New York State Commission on Preservation of Agricultural Land as its Executive Director.

Dr. Libby has been very active in professional associations. He served on the elected Executive Board and later as President of the American Agricultural Economics Association in 1994-1995. He was President of the Southern Agricultural Economics Association during the 1991-1992 term. Dr. Libby graduated from the University of Maine, where he majored in Agricultural Science. He earned both his Masters and Doctoral degrees in Agricultural Economics from Cornell University.