West Virginia Universitys College of Business and Economics is increasing its integration with the Universitys forensic science program.
Max M. Houck, WVU s Forensic Science Initiative director, has been retained to serve as manager of business forensic research and outreach at the business school, Dean Jay Coats said.
Houck, who took charge of the Universitys forensic science research program in early 2002, will continue as director of the Initiative in the WVU Research Office. He will also oversee forensic-related research at the College of Business and Economics and help develop educational programs for professionals and practitioners and collaborative relationships between the college and other units within and outside WVU .
The College of Business and Economics has several notable successes in the forensic area with the graduate certificate program in forensic accounting and programs and activities with the American Society of Crime Lab Directors,Dr. Coats said.
The addition of a manager of business forensic research and outreach signifies our serious interest and commitment to engaging a number of our faculty across the college in building distinctive capabilities in this area,Coats added.
Before joining WVU , Houck was a supervisory scientist with the FBI Laboratory in Washington, D.C., and a forensic anthropologist and trace evidence examiner in Texas. One of his cases was coordinating the anthropological recovery and scientific examinations of the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas.
Forensic science can benefit from the knowledge and methods in business,Houck said.Many of the overlaps between business and forensic science have never seriously been examined. WVU is the perfect institution to do that.
Houck received the FBI s Quality Award and the American Society of Testing and Materials Forensic Science Award in 2000. He is a graduate of Michigan State University and a fellow of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences.
He has co-authored and edited two books of forensic case reviews,Mute WitnessesandTrace Evidence Analysis.He is Chairman of the Forensic Science Educational Program Accreditation Commission.