Richard James Gelles

Who is Richard James Gelles?

Richard J. Gelles is an American writer. He is a dean at the University of Pennsylvania and holds the Joanne and Raymond Welsh Chair of Child Welfare and Family Violence in the School of Social Policy & Practice. He is the Director for the Center for Research on Youth & Social Policy and Co-Director of the Field Center for Children's Policy Practice & Research.

Gelles is an internationally known expert in domestic violence and child welfare. He was influential in the passage of the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997.

He is also on the Board of Directors for the nonprofit organization Pitch in for Baseball.