MATTHEW HOLDEN JR. IS PRESIDENT-ELECT OF NATIONAL GROUP

        CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., Sept. 23 -- Matthew Holden Jr., a
nationally known authority on the electric utilities industry, has
just been voted president-elect of the American Political Science
Association.
        Holden, the University of Virginia's Henry L. and Grace
Doherty Charitable Foundation Professor of Government and Foreign
Affairs, has made his career in the study of public administration and
in public service, holding a number of state and federal positions
related to the utilities industry.
        The author of "Continuity and Disruption: Essays in Public
Administration," Holden also recently won the National Conference of
Black Political Scientists' 1997 Outstanding Book Award.
        These honors come as Holden pursues his public service and
research into public administration, especially, the regulation and
deregulation of the electric utilities industry.
        Late last year, Holden was named to the U.S. Department of
Energy's Task Force on Electric System Reliability, a 21-member
committee charged with providing information and recommendations to
the U.S. Secretary of Energy's Advisory Board on the reliability of
bulk electricity systems in the United States.
        Holden is a former commissioner of the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission (1977 81), a former commissioner of the Public
Service Commission of Wisconsin (1975-77), and currently serves as a
director of Atlantic Energy Inc., a major power company based in
Pleasantville, N.J.
OVER
        He is mentioned in a number of directories of prominent
Americans, including "Who's Who Among Black Americans" (3rd edition,
Marquis) and "Who's Who in America" (44th edition, Marquis).
        Along with his recently published, award-winning book, Holden
has numerous publications to his name, including: "The Energy Problem
in the American Democracy," in The Crisis, March 1980; "The Presidency
and the Regulatory Process: Energy," Governance VI New Insights of
Governance: Theory and Practice, 1995; "The Regulatory Process and the
Politics of
Energy," The Institutional and Political Challenges of Energy
Politics, 1982; and "The Utility Problem and the Energy Problem,"
Challenges for Public Utility Regulation in the 1980s, 1981.
        Holden received his bachelor's degree from Roosevelt
University and his master's and doctoral degrees in political science
from Northwestern University.  Before coming to U.Va., he taught at
Wayne State University and the University of Pittsburgh.  Throughout
his career, Holden has donated countless hours of public service to
government agencies, churches and civic organizations.
        He can be reached for comment on a broad array of issues
affecting the electric utilities industry, including questions of
deregulation, at (804) 924-3422, office; (804) 296-3649, home; and at
mh3q@virginia.edu.
        For more information about U.Va.'s business resources, call
Charlotte Crystal at (804) 924 6858.
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September 22, 1997