Niu Gao is a principal researcher at AIR specializing in K-12 education policy. Her current work focuses on COVID-19 and education, and she is leading multiple projects to examine the impact of the pandemic on K-12 education and identify effective strategies to help students recover—and recover equitably. Her other areas ...
Janet Lundeen is an organizational leader in supporting federal research and policy related to special education and children and youth with disabilities. She is co-project director for the Analysis, Communication, Dissemination and Meetings (ACDM) contract for the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), U.S. Department of Education. Lundeen leads development ...
H. Richard (Rich) Milner IV is Cornelius Vanderbilt Chair of Education and professor of education in the Department of Teaching and Learning at Peabody College of Vanderbilt University. In April 2022, Professor Milner received the prestigious Joseph A. Johnson, Jr. Distinguished Leadership Professor Award, one of Vanderbilt University’s highest honors. His ...
Courtney Tanenbaum is a managing researcher with a specialization in postsecondary education research and evaluation. Her doctoral work focused on policies and practices that effectively expand access to college and promote more equitable opportunities and outcomes for the diversity of the nation’s students. Key areas of interest and expertise include ...
Mary Kay Dugan is a managing technical assistant consultant at AIR. She is passionate about identifying evidence-based promising practices and translating them into policies and effective programs focused on underserved populations including disadvantaged youth and young adults. Dugan has over 30 years of experience helping federal, state, and local governments ...
Kim Gattis is a nationally recognized expert in large-scale mathematics assessments through her work at the state, national, and international levels. For over a decade she has led AIR projects supporting the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) for the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics. Currently ...
Johannes M. (Hans) Bos is a senior vice president and Institute Fellow at AIR. Dr. Bos is a nationally recognized expert in the conduct of randomized control trials in education and other areas of social policy research. Since 1992 he has conducted numerous evaluations and policy studies in education, child ...
Jessica Heppen, a nationally recognized expert in education research, policy, and practice, is the president & CEO of AIR. Dr. Heppen been with AIR for 20 years and, in that time, has held several key roles during her tenure.
Terris Ross is managing director of the AIR Equity Initiative. In this role, Dr. Ross will refine the long-term, substantive agenda of the Equity Initiative’s work in education. She will provide intellectual and technical leadership to improve educational and economic opportunity, with deep appreciation for the challenges faced by communities ...
Roddy Theobald is a managing researcher in the Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research (CALDER) at AIR. His primary responsibilities include overseeing eight externally-funded research projects related to the teacher labor market and its implications for student outcomes. He has extensive experience using large administrative datasets to ...