Speaker biographies

David Figlio is the Knight-Ridder Professor of Economics at the University of Florida and research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. In August 2008, he will join Northwestern University as the Orrington Lunt Professor of Education and Social Policy and Economics and a fellow at the Institute for Policy Research. Mr. Figlio edits the new journal Education Finance and Policy. His research on education finance, school accountability, unintended reactions to school policy changes, and related topics has been published in journals like the American Economic Review, the Journal of Law and Economics, and the Journal of Public Economics, and it has been funded by the U.S. Departments of Agriculture, Education, and Health and Human Services; the National Institutes of Child Health and Human Development; the National Science Foundation; and numerous private foundations. Mr. Figlio has assisted numerous states and foreign countries in the design and evaluation of education policies.

Jane Hannaway is the director of education policy at the Urban Institute. She uses ideas from organization theory to study educational organizations and the behavior of individuals within them. Her work has focused heavily on the determinants and consequences of different structural arrangements in schools and school districts, particularly those associated with decentralization. She has done work both in the United States and in developing countries. Ms. Hannaway’s work in the United States is especially concerned with urban and suburban differences. More recently, she has begun work on out-of-school investments in the academic and social development of youth.

Henry Olsen is vice president and director of the National Research Initiative (NRI). He disseminates and publicizes the Institute’s work to the academic community; works with AEI’s visiting, adjunct, and NRI research fellows; commissions and supervises NRI projects; and oversees the production of NRI publications. Mr. Olsen was previously vice president for programs at the Manhattan Institute and a clerk to the chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, Danny J. Boggs.

Marcus A. Winters is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute. He has performed several studies on a variety of education policy issues, including high-stakes testing, performance pay for teachers, and the effects of vouchers on the public school system. His research has been published in the journals Education Finance and Policy, Teachers College Record, and Education Next. Mr. Winter’s op-eds have appeared in numerous newspapers, including the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, and USA Today.

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