Institute of Education Sciences honors Shaun M. Dougherty

Lynch School of Education and Human Development Professor Shaun M. Dougherty has been selected for the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers by the Institute of Education Sciences—the highest honor bestowed by the United States government on early-career scientists and engineers.

Dougherty, who is director of the program in Research and Evaluation Methods in the Lynch School’s Measurement, Evaluation, Statistics and Assessment Department, was praised for his “exceptional contributions to the education sciences” by Matthew Soldner, acting director of the Institute of Education Sciences, and commissioner of the National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance: “Your leadership, ingenuity, and commitment to solving complex challenges will undoubtedly continue to inspire change and foster progress in education and beyond.”

Dougherty’s research and teaching interests focus on education policy analysis, causal program evaluation and cost analysis, and the economics of education, with an emphasis on career and technical education, educational accountability policies, and the application of regression discontinuity research designs.  

He is also the director of BC’s Catholic Education Research Initiative, launched in 2022, which focuses on finding problem-based solutions to the challenges that educators in Catholic schools face.

“We are very pleased to see this recognition for Shaun Dougherty, and it’s very appropriate that he has been recognized for his important work and promising research trajectory,” said Stanton E. F. Wortham, the Charles F. Donovan, S.J., Dean of the Lynch School of Education and Human Development. “It’s also great to have him working with colleagues on a range of projects, including emerging work on Catholic schooling in the U.S.”

Last spring, Dougherty began a one-year appointment as a senior advisor in the Office of the Chief Economist, located within the Office of the Undersecretary at the U.S. Department of Education. His responsibilities include economic analysis and providing guidance on policy related to education.