On March 25, the University of Michigan Regents approved the appointment of Katherine Michelmore as associate professor of public policy, with tenure, effective August 30, 2021.
Michelmore is a leading scholar and educator on the social safety net, education policy, labor economics, and economic demography. She is a recognized expert on the efficacy of the Earned Income Tax Credit and its impact on children.
“We’re thrilled to welcome Professor Michelmore to the Ford School. Her expertise in social policy and education comes at a critical time for our country, as we are emerging from the pandemic and attempting to build a more equitable path for the future.”
Michelmore is currently an assistant professor of public administration and international affairs at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School. She was an Institute of Education Sciences (IES) postdoctoral fellow at the Ford School’s Education Policy Initiative from 2014-2016.
Michelmore has collaborated with notable Ford School faculty, including Susan Dynarski and Natasha Pilkauskas. With Dynarski and co-authors, she created and evaluated the University of Michigan’s groundbreaking HAIL Scholarship, which succeeded in boosting college application rates for low-income students by providing early information about tuition and financial aid. Her 2019 study with Pilkauskas found that increases to the Earned Income Tax Credit helped low-income single mothers improve their housing outcomes.
“I am very excited to join the Ford School and contribute to the school’s long-standing excellence in social and education policy research and teaching,” said Katherine Michelmore. “I look forward to collaborating with my future colleagues within Ford and across campus to address the social inequities continuing to face our society today.“
Michelmore’s work has been published in The Journal of Labor Economics, The Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, Demography, the Journal of Marriage and Family, and Review of Economics of the Household, and others.
At the Maxwell School, Michelmore was an assistant professor of public administration and international affairs and a senior research associate in the Center for Policy Research. Michelmore received her Ph.D. in policy analysis and management from Cornell University. Prior to completing her Ph.D., she worked as a research assistant at The Urban Institute in Washington D.C. She earned her BA in economics magna cum laude from Wesleyan University.
