Dear campus community,

I am excited to announce the appointment of Dr. Mark Long as Dean of the School of Public Policy. His first day will be January 1, 2023.

Mark joins us from the University of Washington, where he is a Professor in the Evans School of Public Policy and Governance and an Adjunct Professor of Economics. He previously served as the Evans School’s Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs (2018-19) and Associate Dean for Research (2016-18). Before he joined the University of Washington in 2004, Mark served on the faculty of George Washington University as an assistant professor of economics and public policy and administration.

Mark’s research examines the effects of public policies on economic opportunity and efficient social mobility, with emphasis on estimating the benefits and costs of those policies. His education-related research focuses on the effects of high school course-taking and school and college quality on test scores, educational attainment, labor market outcomes, and family formation and other behaviors; the effects of college financial aid on college entry and household savings; gender disparities in educational attainment; and the effects of affirmative action and alternative college admissions policies on college entry. He has also published research on the impact of Seattle’s minimum wage law and the effects of altruism on the value of life for use in benefit-cost analysis. His work has appeared in American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, Journal of Human Resources, The Review of Economics and Statistics, Journal of Public Economics, Journal of Econometrics, Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, Public Administration Review, PLoS One, American Educational Research Journal, Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, Educational Researcher, and Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness.

Mark served as Vice President and Executive Council Member and Policy Council Member of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management, and on the Board of Directors of the Association for Education Finance and Policy. He was Managing Editor and Co-Editor of the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management and Associate Editor of the American Educational Research Journal. He currently serves as a Deputy Editor of Demography. He was elected to the Washington State Academy of Sciences in 2019. 

Mark holds a Ph.D. and MA in Economics from the University of Michigan, an MPP from the University of Michigan, a secondary teaching credential via UCLA, and a BA in Studio Art from DePauw University.

I wish to thank Anil Deolalikar, the founding dean of the School of Public Policy, for his extraordinary service to UCR over the last decade. Under his leadership, SPP launched both the Master of Public Policy Program and a combined five-year BA/MPP program, assumed oversight of the undergraduate program in Public Policy, supported several extramurally-funded research centers, raised more than $7M for the Living the Promise campaign, and became a key player in shaping and furthering evidence-based policy dialogue in the Inland Empire. Anil will continue to serve as Dean until January 1, 2023, when he will return to the faculty in the Department of Economics in CHASS.

I also want to thank the members of the search committee for their active engagement in helping to select our new SPP Dean:

Tom Smith, Professor of Education and Public Policy (Chair)

Arleth Flores Aparicio, undergraduate student, School of Public Policy

Cecilia Ayon, Professor of Public Policy (Senate Appointee)

Yolanda Aquilar Candelario, graduate student, School of Public Policy

Richard Carpiano, Professor of Public Policy (Senate Appointee)

Xinping Cui, Professor of Statistics (Senate Appointee)

Jodi Kim, Associate Professor of Media and Cultural Studies (Senate Appointee)

Kathy Kim, Senior Director of Development, Engagement, and Policy, School of Public Policy

Bruce Link, Distinguished Professor of Public Policy and Sociology (Senate Appointee)

Mark Manalang, Marketing, Communications and Events Manager, School of Public Policy 

Jennifer Merolla, Professor of Political Science (Senate Appointee)

Mehdi Nemati, Assistant Professor of Cooperative Extension in Public Policy

Sharon Oselin, Associate Professor of Public Policy and Sociology (Senate Appointee)

Justine Ross, Associate Director, The Presley Center of Crime and Justice Studies, School of Public Policy

Sally Tavizon, Assistant Dean and CFAO, School of Public Policy

Qingfang Wang, Professor of Public Policy (Senate Appointee)

Ran Wei, Associate Professor of Public Policy (Affirmative Action Compliance Liaison)

Please join me in thanking Anil for his service and in extending a warm welcome to Mark.

Sincerely,

Liz