Alex Ralph

Core faculty

Alex L. Ralph

Writing Instructor & Teaching Professor

Alex Ralph is a teaching professor and writing instructor at the Ford School, where he teaches expository writing and courses on storytelling through public policy. Prior to the Ford School, he taught for over a decade in the Sweetland Center for…

News

PPIA JSI 2024: Students, faculty, and staff in their own words

Aug 5, 2024

Every year looks a little bit different, but the students are always smart, caring, and dynamic, said Alex Ralph, a teaching professor who just finished up his 12th summer with the Ford School’s Public Policy & International Affairs (PPIA) Junior...

Group photo of the ppia jsi cohort at Weill Hall

News

Ralph proposes more effective communication for anti-corruption reporting

Oct 22, 2023

In a blog post for Corruption Justice Legitimacy, Alex Ralph, writing instructor and teaching professor at the Ford School, outlined how anti-corruption practitioners and researchers have struggled to communicate most effectively why their work...

News

PPIA students reflect on their summer of study and social life

Aug 2, 2023

What are the dynamics of inequity in labor markets? How do we determine appropriate categories for people in a multicultural society? How is the U.S. approach to ethnicity and nationality different from what they are doing in Europe? These were...

Group of PPIA students posing in front of Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy courtyard

News

Three Ford School faculty promoted to Teaching Professors

Jul 11, 2023

Yazier Henry, Rusty Hills, and Alex Ralph have been promoted and will have the newly-created title of “teaching professors,” beginning in fall term 2023. The University of Michigan created the new designation for long-serving lecturers in its labor...

News

Ford School welcomes PPIA 2023 cohort

Jun 19, 2023

The 2023 Public Policy and International Affairs (PPIA) Junior Summer Institute (JSI) has welcomed 23 students from 11 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. This year’s cohort will spend seven weeks taking classes, participating in...

News

Alvin Christian awarded the 2023 Peter Eckstein Prize

May 17, 2023

Ford School PhD candidate Alvin Christian is the 2023 winner of the Peter Eckstein Prize for Interdisciplinary Research, an award that celebrates the value of interdisciplinary research in public policy. His research paper, “Restraining Orders,...

Alvin Christian smiling in an office space with tables and orange chairs in the background

In the Media

Ralph reports on local leaders' theory of change in Cincinnati

Aug 23, 2022 Soapbox Cincinnati

Writing instructor Alex Ralph spoke to four nonprofit leaders in Cincinnati "to understand what drew them to their work and how, obstacles and all, they try to implement their theory of change." "These four leaders form a kind of Greek chorus,"...

News

Trish Fisher (MPP/MPH ‘23) awarded Peter Eckstein Prize for her examination of food systems and climate policy

May 18, 2022

Trish Fisher’s (MPP/MPH ‘23) paper, “The ‘Dark Horse’ of Climate Change: Agricultural Methane Governance in the United States and Canada,” earned her the 2022 Peter Eckstein Prize for Interdisciplinary Research. The Eckstein Prize is the Ford...

Publication

Using school assessments to improve curricula and student results - Ralph

May 10, 2022

The use of mandatory testing for school assessment has been questioned for years. Are they the best measure of student or school achievement? Do they affect curriculum changes that benefit students? In the Cinicinnati Enquirer, Ford School writing...

News

Ralph pens article on corruption and Russian invasion

Apr 10, 2022

Alex Ralph, a writing instructor at the Ford School, recently sat down with Frank Vogl, co-founder of Transparency International, the chairman of the Partnership for Transparency Fund and an adjunct professor at Georgetown University, to discuss...

In the Media

Alex Ralph profiles a mental health services provider in Cincinnati

Aug 31, 2021 Soapbox Cincinnati

Ford School writing instructor Alex Ralph takes a deep look at a mental health services provider and its important wrap-around services like supported employment. Read his article in Soapbox...

In the Media

Alex Ralph reports on mental health providers navigating COVID in Cincinnati

Jun 29, 2021 Soapbox Cincinnati

Ford School writing instructor takes a look at the delivery of and coordination of care for some of Cincinnati's most vulnerable populations during the pandemic. Read his article in Soapbox...

Ford School’s Alex Ralph reports on mental health court during a pandemic

Jun 12, 2020

Alex Ralph, lecturer at the Ford School, reports for the Cincinnati Enquirer about the Hamilton County Felony Mental Health Court, established in 2010 and guided by the principle of “treatment in lieu of conviction.” The program looks after some...

News

Students explore the power of narrative in "Storytelling for Policy Writing"

Nov 21, 2017

Dina Emam (MPP/MAE '18) shared an intimate glimpse into the life of a Cambodian refugee. Kyle Enochs (MPP '18) tackled restrictions on rural broadband expansion. Hannah Bauman (MPP '18) challenged the teacher certification system. Lee...

State & Hill

Chimera, Morse, and Ralph--the Ford School's writing instructors--get "The Last Word"

May 5, 2016

Beth Chimera, David Morse, and Alex Ralph—the Ford School’s writing instructors—chat about the skills they teach, why those skills matter for aspiring public servants, and what they love about the work. S&H: What kinds of writing projects do...

Photo of Beth Chimera, David Morse, and Alex Ralph

Welcome Webinar: Policy Writing 101

Mar 19, 2020 0:32:26

Join our Writing Center’s Alex Ralph in unpacking how the Ford School uniquely prepares students to craft policy writing that furthers their careers.