Analytic methods

Cohodes is a leading education policy economist who uses quantitative causal inference methods to evaluate policies and programs. She is known for her influential research on charter schools. Her research focuses on school choice, programs for high-achieving students, and settings that support access to high-quality education.

Hanson is a specialist in comparative political economy and political development. He examines the ways that political institutions affect economic performance and development. In his recent projects, he has explored how to measure state capacity, the roles of democracy and state capacity for improving human development, and why authoritarian regimes vary significantly in economic and social outcomes. A former congressional aide, he has been active in political campaigns.

Hausman is an environmental and energy economist, and some of her recent areas of research include electricity markets and climate change; inequality in pollution exposure; and the natural gas sector's role in methane leaks. She is a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economics Research.

Henry has written and published on the political economy of social voice, memory, trauma, identity, peace processes, Truth Commissions, international transitional justice and international humanitarian law. His research and writing projects focus on how structural and administrative violence come to be institutionalized during post-colonial transitions. His current work is on the discourse of human rights, structural violence and the politics of official voice.

Justin Holz is an economist who explores how racial discrimination affects the consequences of minimum wage policies, inequity in property taxes, debt amnesties in developing countries, and the causes and consequences of police misconduct.

Jacob is co-director of the Youth Policy Lab. His primary fields of interest are labor economics, program evaluation, and the economics of education. Jacob's current research focuses on urban school reform, with a particular emphasis on standards and accountability initiatives.

Judge-Lord is a political scientist who studies interactions among interest groups, legislators, and bureaucracies. His current work focuses on how public pressure campaigns affect agency rulemaking, especially climate and environmental justice campaigns. His other research projects address legislator behavior and capacity, money in politics, lobbying, and private governance.

In memoriam: John Leahy is the Allen Sinai Professor of Macroeconomics, a joint appointment between the Ford School and the Department of Economics. Much of his work considers the psychological side of consumerism, analyzing individuated, decisionmak...

Stephanie Leiser leads the Michigan Local Government Fiscal Health Project at the Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy (CLOSUP).

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.

Morenoff's research interests include neighborhood environments, inequality, crime and criminal justice, the social determinants of health, racial/ethnic/immigrant disparities in health and antisocial behavior, and methods for analyzing multilevel and spatial data.

Yusuf Neggers is an economist whose research examines questions at the intersection of development and political economy, with a focus on state capacity and the delivery of public services.

Pilkauskas is a social demographer who studies the social safety net, children's living arrangements, and economic insecurity. Pilkauskas' work considers how social policy might improve the developmental and life trajectories of children living in poverty.

Stange's research lies broadly in empirical labor and public economics, with a focus on education and health care. His prior research includes studies of college enrollment and persistence, the effect of resources and peers on community college students, the importance of amenities in college choice, and the effects of different pricing structures on major choice and student credit load.

Watkins-Hayes is an internationally recognized scholar and expert widely credited for her research at the intersection of inequality, public policy, and human service institutions, with a special focus on HIV/AIDS; poverty; and race, class, and gender studies. Dr. Watkins-Hayes has published three books, numerous journal and edited volume articles, and pieces in The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and Chicago Magazine.

Christina Weiland is Professor at the Marsal Family School of Education and the Karl and Martha Kohn Professor of Social Policy at the Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan, where she is affiliated with the Educational Studies de...

Wolfers is an economist with broad policy-related interests and experience. He is also affiliated with the NBER, Brookings and the Peterson Institute for International Economics. He is a contributing columnist for the New York Times and host of the “Think Like An Economist” podcast. He is a popular teacher and author of a leading economics textbook.

Alton Worthington is a lecturer in public policy at the Ford School, where he teaches on statistical computing and data visualization. His core research is on topics of international political economy, with a focus on the intersection of global capit...

William Axinn is the Ronald and Deborah Freedman Director of the International Hub at the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research (ISR), Interim Director of the International Policy Center at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy,...

A sociologist, Burgard’s research focuses on the way systems of stratification and inequality impact the health of people and populations. Much of her work focuses on socioeconomic, gender, and racial/ethnic disparities in working lives and the relationships between working careers and health. She studies mental and physical health, as well as health behaviors, with a particular interest in sleep. In related work, she has studied the impact of recessions on well-being.

Brian McCall is a professor of education, with courtesy appointments at the Ford School and Department of Economics. He is an economist whose research interests include applied econometrics, econometrics theory, economics of education and education p...

A social demographer, Lantz studies the role of public policy in improving population health and reducing social disparities in health. She is currently engaged in research regarding innovative financing approaches for supportive housing among Medicaid beneficiaries, and also on how COVID-19 is exacerbating existing social and health inequalities in the U.S.

Dom Adams-Santos is the managing director of the Center for Racial Justice and the Director of Strategic Initiatives at the Ford School. Dr. Adams-Santos also serves as the Strategic Consultant for Democratic Engagement for the Initiative for Democracy & Civic Empowerment. She earned her PhD in sociology from Northwestern University.