Bridget Terry Long, Dean and Saris Professor of Education and Economics at the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE), has been named the next Chair of the MDRC Board of Directors. Long has been a member of the MDRC Board since 2010. She succeeds Mary Jo Bane, who has served on the Board for 33 years, the last nine of them as Chair.

A member of the Harvard faculty since 2000, Long is an economist whose work focuses improving educational opportunity and student success. Her studies have provided evidence on the effectiveness of financial aid policies and academic supports on educational attainment. She has also developed and tested interventions that aim to encourage important educational activities, such as completing financial aid forms, saving for college, and persisting in higher education. Since becoming Dean of HGSE in 2018, Long has led the school through the implementation of its redesigned master’s program, the pivot to remote education during 2020-21, and the introduction of a new online degree, along with expanding HGSE’s external engagement and partnerships. 

Long is a research associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research, a member of the National Academy of Education, and served as Chair of the National Board for Education Sciences, the advisory panel of the Institute of Education Sciences at the U.S. Department of Education. She has testified numerous times before U.S. Senate Committees and state governmental bodies and was a visiting fellow at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. Long earned her Ph.D. and M.A. from the Harvard University Department of Economics and her A.B. from Princeton University in Economics with a Certificate in Afro-American Studies.  

“It has been an honor and a pleasure to serve on MDRC’s Board,” said Bane. “And I’m delighted to be turning over the job of chair to Bridget, who I know will do a great job, given her deep commitment to MDRC’s mission.”

“I am honored to serve in this new role,” said Long. “For many years, I have been an admirer and partner in MDRC’s work, and I look forward to further advancing the mission of the organization: to improve social policy with the goal of improving the lives of low-income individuals, families, and communities. By tackling some of the most challenging problems facing our country today, MDRC has contributed substantially to our knowledge of effective interventions, programs, and policies, and I am excited about the future possibilities and opportunities for impact.”

 “Bridget and I share a vision for MDRC as a leader in building new evidence about what works to improve policy, practice, and the well-being of people living with low incomes—and in helping decision-makers apply evidence to achieve their goals,” said MDRC President Virginia Knox. “MDRC’s staff and I look forward to working with her in her new role.”

About MDRC: MDRC, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, is committed to finding solutions to some of the most difficult problems facing the nation—from reducing poverty and bolstering economic mobility to improving public education and college graduation rates to reducing inequities in the criminal justice system. MDRC designs promising new interventions, evaluates existing programs using the highest research standards, and provides technical assistance to build better programs and deliver effective interventions on a large scale.