Carolyn Heinrich

Carolyn J. Heinrich is the Patricia and Rodes Hart Professor of Public Policy, Education and Economics in Vanderbilt University's Peabody College of Education and Human Development. She holds the rank of University Distinguished Professor of Leadership, Policy, and Organizations in Peabody College and of Political Science in the College of Arts and Science, along with secondary appointments as Professor of Health Policy in the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and Professor of Economics in the Department of Economics. She served as Chair of the Department of Leadership, Policy, and Organizations from 2019 to 2022 and as Co-Director of the International Education Policy and Management Program from 2016 to 2019. Prior to joining Vanderbilt in 2015, she was the Sid Richardson Professor of Public Affairs and Affiliated Professor of Economics at the University of Texas at Austin, where she directed the Center for Health and Social Policy from 2011 to 2015. Earlier positions include Director of the La Follette School of Public Affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison from 2008 to 2011, with affiliate appointments in economics and as Associate Director of the Institute for Research on Poverty; and Assistant Professor of Public Policy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from 2000 to 2003. She earned a PhD in Public Policy Studies from the University of Chicago in 1995, with fields in labor economics, urban political economy, econometrics, and social program evaluation, an MA from the same institution in 1991, and a BA summa cum laude from Beloit College in 1989, majoring in international relations, economics, and management.

Heinrich's research focuses on education, workforce development, social welfare policy and poverty reduction, program evaluation, and public management and performance management in U.S. and international contexts. She collaborates with governments and organizations including the World Bank and UNICEF on studies such as linked longitudinal health and education data for at-risk children in Tennessee, school-based mental health interventions, supplemental promise programs, and educational technologies to improve student outcomes. Her major awards include the Alexander Heard Distinguished Service Professor Award in 2024, the H. George Frederickson Award for Career Contributions to Public Management Research in 2024, election to the National Academy of Social Insurance in 2023, Fellow of the American Educational Research Association in 2017, election to the U.S. National Academy of Public Administration in 2011, and the David N. Kershaw Award in 2004. She served as President of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management from 2016 to 2017 and of the Public Management Research Association from 2011 to 2013, and as Editor of the Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory from 2005 to 2008. Key publications include the books Equity and Quality in Digital Learning: Realizing the Promise in K-12 Education (2020, Harvard Education Press), Mixed Methods for Policy Research and Program Evaluation (2015, SAGE), and The Performance of Performance Standards (2011, W.E. Upjohn Institute), along with numerous peer-reviewed articles on topics such as mental health outcomes, immigration enforcement effects, and public contracting.

Professional Email: carolyn.j.heinrich@vanderbilt.edu