Faculty and Staff
Debra Bragg, Ph.D.
Director; Lead Reseacher: College and Career Readiness
Professor, Educational Organization and Leadership
Director, Office of Community College Research and Leadership
College of Education, University of Illinois
Debra D. Bragg became Director of the Forum on the Future of Public Education in August 2009. Dr. Bragg is a Professor of Educational Organization and Leadership in the College of Education at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and director of the Office of Community College Research and Leadership (OCCRL). Her research focuses on P-20 policy issues, with a special interest in youth and adult transition to college, workforce development, and programs for underserved student populations. She has led national and state level research and evaluation studies examining the participation of diverse students in various college transition initiatives including studies of the impact of career pathways, tech prep and dual credit. Currently Professor Bragg serves as principal investigator for studies on implementation of Perkins IV Programs of Study, Applied Baccalaureate programs, Colorado’s out-of-school youth transition program (Colorado Success Unlimited), Illinois’ College and Career Readiness Act, and the Joyce Foundation’s Shifting Gears initiative. Past projects include site direction for the National Centers for Career and Technical Education and its predecessor the National Center for Research in Vocational Education. As director of OCCRL, she works extensively with state agency leaders at ISBE, ICCB, and IBHE and college leaders throughout the state and nation.
James Anderson, Ph.D.
Chair, Advisory Committee for the Forum on the Future of Public Education
Head/ Gutgsell Professor, Educational Policy Studies
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Professor Jim Anderson is one of the leading historians of education in the country. His past research has focused on the history of African American education in the South from 1860-1935, the history of higher education desegregation in southern states, the history of public school desegregation, institutional racism, and the representation of Blacks in secondary school history textbooks. His current research projects include the history of African American public higher education and the development of African American school achievement in the twentieth century. Dr. Anderson is a member of the National Academy of Education, senior editor of the History of Education Quarterly, and a recipient of the American Educational Research Association’s Outstanding Book Award and Distinguished Career Contribution Award.
Lorenzo Baber, Ph.D.
Co-Lead Researcher: College and Career Readiness
Assistant Professor, Educational Organization & Leadership
College of Education, University of Illinois
Lorenzo Baber’s primary research agenda focuses on the impact of socioeconomic background and ethnicity on identity development and academic outcomes for postsecondary students. He is particularly interested in investigating the persistent educational achievement gap between minority and majority students at Predominately White Institutions. Additional research interests include examination of university-neighborhood partnership initiatives in urban communities and international comparative education.
Stanley Ikenberry, Ph.D.
Lead Researcher: Collegiate Outcomes Assessment, Public Expectations
Interim President Designee of the University of Illinois
Regent Professor/ Professor Emeritus, Educational Organization and Leadership
University of Illinois
Stan Ikenberry, currently interim President of the University of Illinois and former president of the University of Illinois and of the American Council of Education, leads a number of research studies in higher education policy, including the National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment. He also teaches courses on higher education policy and leadership and serves as advisor to doctoral students. In addition, he holds an appointment as Senior Fellow in the University’s Institute of Government and Public Affairs and is a former director of the Forum for the Future of Public Education. His current areas of interest include higher education assessment, public attitudes about higher education, and privatization of public universities.
Christopher Lubienski, Ph.D.
Lead Researcher: School Choice
Associate Professor of Educational Organization and Leadership
College of Education, University of Illinois
Chris Lubienski's research centers on public and private interests in education, including the use of market mechanisms such as choice and competition to improve schooling, especially for disadvantaged children. His work examines reforms and movements such as vouchers, charter schools, tuition tax credits, and home schooling that seek to decentralize and deregulate educational governance. He focuses on outcomes anticipated by reformers in areas such as increased innovation and higher levels of achievement, exploring the frequent disconnect between research findings and policy advocacy. He is currently investigating the organizational behavior of schools and districts in local education markets in metropolitan areas.
William T. Trent, Ph.D.
Lead Researcher: Underrepresented Undergraduates in STEM Fields
Professor, Educational Policy Studies
Professor, Sociology
College of Education, University of Illinois
As a Professor of Educational Policy Studies and Sociology, Dr. Trent’s past research has focused on: 1) Educational Inequality: school desegregation effects (K-12, postsecondary), benefits and consequences, social organization of schools, status attainment research, co- and extracurricular activities, comparative education; 2) Race and Ethnicity: social stratification and mobility, equality of opportunity; and 3) Complex Organization/Social Change/Policy. Prof. Trent is principal investigator for an Educational Reform Project focused on understanding the role of race, ethnicity, class and gender in school reform. He has also recently served as an expert witness on a court appointed panel in Vaughns, et. al. v. Board. of Education of Prince Georges County, Maryland.
Peter Weitzel, M.Ed.
Graduate Assistant
Doctoral Candidate, Educational Organization and Leadership
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Peter Weitzel is a doctoral student in Educational Organization and Leadership, where he studies issues of school choice and urban educational governance. His research has appeared in Educational Policy, the American Journal of Education, and other professional journals and meetings. He is currently co-editing The Charter School Experiment, a book on 20 years of charter school research, with Dr. Chris Lubienski. Peter received a B.A. in Secondary Education and English from Washington University in St. Louis in 2001. Prior to graduate studies, he was the director of an AmeriCorps program that provided tutoring, character education, service learning, and a range of other services to students in high needs communities in South Carolina.