AP-NORC Center Experts

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Don Jang

Vice President and Director
Higher Education Analytics Center
Phone: (301) 634-9415

Don Jang is Vice President and Director of the Center for Excellence in Survey Research and serves as its Director. He is responsible for overseeing all staff and operations in the CESR department; building and leading the survey analytics team to help transform data collections to meet the demands of information with respect to timeliness, quantity, and quality; and building and leading data analytics team to bring advanced analytics to all NORC project offerings.

Jang has over twenty years experience managing and directing large-scale national federal statistical projects and methodological research associated with federal statistics programs. He has broad experience across all aspects of statistics, including multivariate statistical modeling, data linkage of multiple survey and administrative data, statistical disclosure avoidance, adaptive survey design, real time survey data processing, sampling, estimation, and report and data file production.

Before joining NORC in 2016, Jang was director of Data Science and Statistics of Mathematica Policy Research, building and growing the group to have more than 50 statisticians and data scientists. Jang’s longtime commitment to supporting national Science Foundation’s NCSES programs has been dated back to his tenure at Mathematica. Jang had led all statistical tasks for the Scientists and Engineers Statistical Data System (SESTAT) project since 1996. The SESTAT database integrates data collected through three national sample surveys supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF): the National Survey of College Graduates (NSCG), the Survey of Doctorate Recipients (SDR), and the National Survey of Recent College Graduates (NSRCG). For that project, Jang has led all activities needed for statistical support of the SESTAT system, including linking multiple survey data; optimum sample allocation to meet a number of statistical precision goals; dynamic, streamlined, real time data processing for data editing, imputation, and model-based weighting production for large scale data collection, developing SESTAT variance estimation methodologies, constructing longitudinal weights for longitudinal data analysis, and providing general statistical consultations to NSF and data collection contractors.

Jang had been a member of the Statistical Evaluation Committee for the NSCG since its 2010 redesign based on American Community Survey (ACS) data for its sampling frame. As a committee member, Jang provided statistical advice to the NSF and Census Bureau NSCG statistical staff.

Jang previously taught graduate and undergraduate courses at George Washington University and George Mason University. He is currently a board member of the Korean International Statistical Society and also a board member of Hope Nicaragua; he has served as an at large board member and methodology program and section chairs for the Washington Statistical Society.

Don Jang

Vice President and Director
Higher Education Analytics Center
(301) 634-9415

Don Jang is Vice President and Director of the Center for Excellence in Survey Research and serves as its Director. He is responsible for overseeing all staff and operations in the CESR department; building and leading the survey analytics team to help transform data collections to meet the demands of information with respect to timeliness, quantity, and quality; and building and leading data analytics team to bring advanced analytics to all NORC project offerings.

Jang has over twenty years experience managing and directing large-scale national federal statistical projects and methodological research associated with federal statistics programs. He has broad experience across all aspects of statistics, including multivariate statistical modeling, data linkage of multiple survey and administrative data, statistical disclosure avoidance, adaptive survey design, real time survey data processing, sampling, estimation, and report and data file production.

Before joining NORC in 2016, Jang was director of Data Science and Statistics of Mathematica Policy Research, building and growing the group to have more than 50 statisticians and data scientists. Jang’s longtime commitment to supporting national Science Foundation’s NCSES programs has been dated back to his tenure at Mathematica. Jang had led all statistical tasks for the Scientists and Engineers Statistical Data System (SESTAT) project since 1996. The SESTAT database integrates data collected through three national sample surveys supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF): the National Survey of College Graduates (NSCG), the Survey of Doctorate Recipients (SDR), and the National Survey of Recent College Graduates (NSRCG). For that project, Jang has led all activities needed for statistical support of the SESTAT system, including linking multiple survey data; optimum sample allocation to meet a number of statistical precision goals; dynamic, streamlined, real time data processing for data editing, imputation, and model-based weighting production for large scale data collection, developing SESTAT variance estimation methodologies, constructing longitudinal weights for longitudinal data analysis, and providing general statistical consultations to NSF and data collection contractors.

Jang had been a member of the Statistical Evaluation Committee for the NSCG since its 2010 redesign based on American Community Survey (ACS) data for its sampling frame. As a committee member, Jang provided statistical advice to the NSF and Census Bureau NSCG statistical staff.

Jang previously taught graduate and undergraduate courses at George Washington University and George Mason University. He is currently a board member of the Korean International Statistical Society and also a board member of Hope Nicaragua; he has served as an at large board member and methodology program and section chairs for the Washington Statistical Society.

Jennifer Hamilton

Vice President
Education and Child Development
Phone: (312) 201-6836

Dr. Jennifer Hamilton is Vice President of the Education and Child Development department at NORC. She brings extensive experience in education, methodological knowledge, and leadership skills to create collaborative teams of researchers that support innovative approaches to instruction and student growth.

Hamilton specializes in evaluation methodology, with a focus on the design and implementation of rigorous experimental and quasi-experimental designs. A major emphasis in her work has been social equity and improving the social, academic, economic, and health outcomes of our nation’s most vulnerable youth. As a results-oriented professional, she is an invited lecturer at the University of Georgia, a certified What Works Clearinghouse reviewer, a peer reviewer for numerous journals, and a past president of the Eastern Evaluation Research Society (EERS). Her chapter on program evaluation was recently published in a major textbook.

In her previous role, Hamilton led efforts to attract funding by responding to RFPs and submitting grant applications at the national, state, and local levels.

Jennifer Hamilton

Vice President
Education and Child Development
(312) 201-6836

Dr. Jennifer Hamilton is Vice President of the Education and Child Development department at NORC. She brings extensive experience in education, methodological knowledge, and leadership skills to create collaborative teams of researchers that support innovative approaches to instruction and student growth.

Hamilton specializes in evaluation methodology, with a focus on the design and implementation of rigorous experimental and quasi-experimental designs. A major emphasis in her work has been social equity and improving the social, academic, economic, and health outcomes of our nation’s most vulnerable youth. As a results-oriented professional, she is an invited lecturer at the University of Georgia, a certified What Works Clearinghouse reviewer, a peer reviewer for numerous journals, and a past president of the Eastern Evaluation Research Society (EERS). Her chapter on program evaluation was recently published in a major textbook.

In her previous role, Hamilton led efforts to attract funding by responding to RFPs and submitting grant applications at the national, state, and local levels.

Catherine C. Haggerty

Vice President
Economics, Justice, and Society
Phone: (312) 759-4065

Catherine C. Haggerty is Vice President of the Economics, Justice and Society department at NORC. She collaborates in establishing the department’s research agenda, business development, partnerships, and strategic outreach and planning, while managing small- and large-scale projects. She fulfills leadership responsibilities on various corporate committees focused on business development and is a member of NORC’s Institutional Review Board.

Haggerty has worked in the social science industry for more than 30 years managing all aspects of survey research for data collection projects including sample selection, listing, screening, questionnaire development, focus groups, pilot testing, systems development and testing, remote and in-person training, data collection, records abstraction, reporting, data preparation, delivery, and documentation. During the last decade she has managed the Survey of Consumer Finances, Making Connections and the Resident Relocation Study. She is also currently managing the Survey of Economically Successful Americans and is the Co-Principal Investigator of the Houston Foreclosure Study.

She has led teams that have developed training and mentoring programs that have resulted in improved data quality, designed strategies that maintain or increase response rates, and implemented quality improvement programs that have increased the efficiency of NORC’s data collection processes. In addition to her expertise in national large-scale, multimode longitudinal field data collection efforts, which include computer-assisted personal interviewing, paper-and-pencil interviewing and self-administration, she has also managed both large- and small-scale computer-assisted (CATI) studies. Prior to joining NORC in 1987, Haggerty worked as director of telephone operations at the Rand Corporation and director of the telephone center at UCLA’s Institute for Social Science Research. At both organizations she worked to improve screening and response rates. During her two years at the Rand Corporation she worked primarily on the Medical Outcomes Study and at UCLA she was a supervisor for the California Disability Study, the first academic CATI survey undertaken in the U.S., as well as numerous other CATI studies during her eight- year tenure.

Haggerty was a special issue guest editor of Housing Policy Debate, published in 2010. She has also co-authored scholarly papers addressing survey methodology and poverty-related issues; these papers have been presented at the American Association for Public Opinion Research, the Urban Affairs Association, National Association for Welfare Research and Statistics, and the Society for Lifelong and Longitudinal Studies.

Catherine C. Haggerty

Vice President
Economics, Justice, and Society
(312) 759-4065

Catherine C. Haggerty is Vice President of the Economics, Justice and Society department at NORC. She collaborates in establishing the department’s research agenda, business development, partnerships, and strategic outreach and planning, while managing small- and large-scale projects. She fulfills leadership responsibilities on various corporate committees focused on business development and is a member of NORC’s Institutional Review Board.

Haggerty has worked in the social science industry for more than 30 years managing all aspects of survey research for data collection projects including sample selection, listing, screening, questionnaire development, focus groups, pilot testing, systems development and testing, remote and in-person training, data collection, records abstraction, reporting, data preparation, delivery, and documentation. During the last decade she has managed the Survey of Consumer Finances, Making Connections and the Resident Relocation Study. She is also currently managing the Survey of Economically Successful Americans and is the Co-Principal Investigator of the Houston Foreclosure Study.

She has led teams that have developed training and mentoring programs that have resulted in improved data quality, designed strategies that maintain or increase response rates, and implemented quality improvement programs that have increased the efficiency of NORC’s data collection processes. In addition to her expertise in national large-scale, multimode longitudinal field data collection efforts, which include computer-assisted personal interviewing, paper-and-pencil interviewing and self-administration, she has also managed both large- and small-scale computer-assisted (CATI) studies. Prior to joining NORC in 1987, Haggerty worked as director of telephone operations at the Rand Corporation and director of the telephone center at UCLA’s Institute for Social Science Research. At both organizations she worked to improve screening and response rates. During her two years at the Rand Corporation she worked primarily on the Medical Outcomes Study and at UCLA she was a supervisor for the California Disability Study, the first academic CATI survey undertaken in the U.S., as well as numerous other CATI studies during her eight- year tenure.

Haggerty was a special issue guest editor of Housing Policy Debate, published in 2010. She has also co-authored scholarly papers addressing survey methodology and poverty-related issues; these papers have been presented at the American Association for Public Opinion Research, the Urban Affairs Association, National Association for Welfare Research and Statistics, and the Society for Lifelong and Longitudinal Studies.

Karen Grigorian

Vice President
Education and Child Development
Phone: (312) 759-4025

While Karen’s primary research career has focused on managing complex, large-scale survey projects, she has great passion and strong expertise in survey methodology and continuous project improvement.

Since joining NORC in 1993, Karen has gained extensive experience through her work, which spans the length of NORC’s extensive library of social science surveys. She currently works as the Project Director for the National Science Foundation’s Survey of Doctorate Recipients and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation funded Entrepreneurship in the Population (EPOP) Survey Project. She maintains project oversight responsibilities for NORC’s broad portfolio of higher education related projects including the Hillel Campus Climate Initiative Project, the suite of College Point Advising evaluation collections, and the Association of American Law Schools research initiatives. As a project leader of major enterprise projects, Karen is responsible for all aspects of management, including for all facets of the project, including client management communication, project team leadership, obtaining IRB and Office of Management and Budget clearance, sample design, controlled experiment designs methodological plans, system architecture, data collection oversight, data products and deliverables such as final reports, and external data users’ requests.

Karen regularly authors multiple presentations and reports and she frequently produces or co-writes other publications in support of her projects. In the past, Karen co-authored a guideline for the U.S. Department of Education, How to Solicit Rigorous Evaluations of Mathematics and Science Partnerships (MSP) Projects: A User-Friendly Guide for MSP State Coordinators (2005). Earlier in her career with NORC, Karen was the Director of the Data Preparation Center. This experience has given her a thorough understanding of the most effective data collection and quality assurance methodologies, which are seamlessly incorporated into her current project protocols.

Karen received her undergraduate degree and a secondary teaching certificate from the University of Michigan while working at the Institute for Social Research. Since that time, she earned a Master of Project Management.

Karen Grigorian

Vice President
Education and Child Development
(312) 759-4025

While Karen’s primary research career has focused on managing complex, large-scale survey projects, she has great passion and strong expertise in survey methodology and continuous project improvement.

Since joining NORC in 1993, Karen has gained extensive experience through her work, which spans the length of NORC’s extensive library of social science surveys. She currently works as the Project Director for the National Science Foundation’s Survey of Doctorate Recipients and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation funded Entrepreneurship in the Population (EPOP) Survey Project. She maintains project oversight responsibilities for NORC’s broad portfolio of higher education related projects including the Hillel Campus Climate Initiative Project, the suite of College Point Advising evaluation collections, and the Association of American Law Schools research initiatives. As a project leader of major enterprise projects, Karen is responsible for all aspects of management, including for all facets of the project, including client management communication, project team leadership, obtaining IRB and Office of Management and Budget clearance, sample design, controlled experiment designs methodological plans, system architecture, data collection oversight, data products and deliverables such as final reports, and external data users’ requests.

Karen regularly authors multiple presentations and reports and she frequently produces or co-writes other publications in support of her projects. In the past, Karen co-authored a guideline for the U.S. Department of Education, How to Solicit Rigorous Evaluations of Mathematics and Science Partnerships (MSP) Projects: A User-Friendly Guide for MSP State Coordinators (2005). Earlier in her career with NORC, Karen was the Director of the Data Preparation Center. This experience has given her a thorough understanding of the most effective data collection and quality assurance methodologies, which are seamlessly incorporated into her current project protocols.

Karen received her undergraduate degree and a secondary teaching certificate from the University of Michigan while working at the Institute for Social Research. Since that time, she earned a Master of Project Management.

Varuni Dayaratna

Senior Vice President
International Programs
Phone: (301) 634-9414

Varuni has managed and implemented evaluations and technical assistance projects worldwide. As senior vice president and director of the International Programs department (INPRO), Varuni oversees a multidisciplinary staff of more than 50 researchers implementing projects in over 100 countries.

INPRO provides governments, international aid agencies, private entities, and civil society organizations with reliable, high-quality data and evidence to improve their policies and programming. INPRO’s portfolio comprises over 500 projects that span multiple sectors and draw on core competencies in rigorous impact and performance evaluations, program monitoring, quantitative and qualitative research methods, and intervention development research. Varuni leads INPRO’s growth and strategic direction, providing oversight on business development and portfolio diversification, department finances, talent acquisition, and strategic partnerships.

Over her 16 years at NORC, Varuni has served as director for numerous projects, including the $25 million USAID-funded Reading & Access Evaluations contract, multimillion dollar Millennium Challenge Corporation evaluations in Lesotho, Ghana, and Honduras, and the evaluation of USAID’s School Health and Reading Program in Uganda. Throughout her career, Varuni has also conducted research and technical assistance projects in Bolivia, El Salvador, Guatemala, India, Mexico, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru, Romania, Sri Lanka, Ukraine, and Zambia.

Before joining NORC, Varuni served as regional director for Latin America and the Caribbean for the Health Policy Initiative, a multi-year USAID-funded health project, at The Futures Group International (now Palladium). Prior to that, she worked at the World Bank. Varuni is fluent in Spanish and Sinhalese.

Varuni Dayaratna

Senior Vice President
International Programs
(301) 634-9414

Varuni has managed and implemented evaluations and technical assistance projects worldwide. As senior vice president and director of the International Programs department (INPRO), Varuni oversees a multidisciplinary staff of more than 50 researchers implementing projects in over 100 countries.

INPRO provides governments, international aid agencies, private entities, and civil society organizations with reliable, high-quality data and evidence to improve their policies and programming. INPRO’s portfolio comprises over 500 projects that span multiple sectors and draw on core competencies in rigorous impact and performance evaluations, program monitoring, quantitative and qualitative research methods, and intervention development research. Varuni leads INPRO’s growth and strategic direction, providing oversight on business development and portfolio diversification, department finances, talent acquisition, and strategic partnerships.

Over her 16 years at NORC, Varuni has served as director for numerous projects, including the $25 million USAID-funded Reading & Access Evaluations contract, multimillion dollar Millennium Challenge Corporation evaluations in Lesotho, Ghana, and Honduras, and the evaluation of USAID’s School Health and Reading Program in Uganda. Throughout her career, Varuni has also conducted research and technical assistance projects in Bolivia, El Salvador, Guatemala, India, Mexico, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru, Romania, Sri Lanka, Ukraine, and Zambia.

Before joining NORC, Varuni served as regional director for Latin America and the Caribbean for the Health Policy Initiative, a multi-year USAID-funded health project, at The Futures Group International (now Palladium). Prior to that, she worked at the World Bank. Varuni is fluent in Spanish and Sinhalese.