Richard C. Maurer is extension professor of Community and Leadership Development, where he has been on the faculty since 1977.  Maurer also holds a joint faculty appointment in the Department of Sociology, in which he served as associate chair from 1990-1998.  Maurer also served as Assistant Director of Cooperative Extension Service for Community and Economic Development Programs from 1990-2005.   Maurer received his Ph.D. in rural sociology from The Ohio State University in 1977.  His extension, research, and teaching areas include rural, community, and economic development.  Maurer conducts extension programs in the areas of business retention and expansion, local service delivery and planning, land use, program evaluation, and community health service assessment and planning.  Maurer is a past president of the National Association of Community Development Extension Professionals.