CLOSUP Staff

Brian Jacob, Director

Brian Jacob is the Walter H. Annenberg Professor of Education Policy, Professor of Economics, and Director of the Center on Local, State and Urban Policy (CLOSUP) at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy. He is also a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research and an Executive Committee Member of the National Poverty Center. He has previously served as a policy analyst in the NYC Mayor's Office and taught middle school in East Harlem. His primary fields of interest are labor economics, program evaluation, and the economics of education. His current research focuses on urban school reform and teacher labor markets. In recent work, he has examined school choice, education accountability programs, housing vouchers, and teacher promotion policies.

Thomas Ivacko, Administrator

Tom joined CLOSUP in the fall of 2001 and serves as the Center's administrator and program manager, handling the administration and general management of the Center. Tom previously spent 11 years as a study manager, program manager and administrator with the National Election Studies at the UofM Institute for Social Research. Outside of work he coaches youth sports and serves as president of a nature area non-profit organization that focuses on stewardship and elementary school environmental educational opportunities in Ann Arbor, MI.

Stephanie James, Administrative Assistant

Stephanie James joined CLOSUP in May 2006. She is the Administrative Assistant for the center. Stephanie has been with the University of Michigan since 1989, ten of those years were spent in the Football Department. Stephanie greatest passions are spending time with her husband (Andrew) and two kids (Dora and Andrew II) and volunteering as a Reading/Writing Tutor for the Family Learning Institute in Ann Arbor.

Samuel Hwang, Policy Student Research Assistant

Samuel Hwang is a first year MPP at Ford School, specializing in the issue of poverty alleviation. Before coming to the University of Michigan he graduated from Hendrix College, where he double majored in Economics and Mathematics. His current research interest is measuring the effect of the No Child Left Behind on the academic achievements of disadvantaged students and investigating the various ways in which the accountability policy is being implemented in each state.

Jessica Goldberg, Graduate Student Research Assistant

Jessica has a Masters in Public Affairs from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University, and a Bachelors degree in Economics and Political Science from Stanford University. She spent two years as a research assistant at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, where she studied unemployment insurance and welfare reform. Her research interests are in labor economics, with a special emphasis on the role of education and job training programs in improving the socioeconomic status of at risk populations.

Stephanie Rennane, Undergraduate Research Assistant

Stephanie is a senior at the University of Michigan completing her B.A. in Economics with a minor in French. She is currently working on her Senior Honors Thesis on the role of conditional cash transfers in education. Following graduation in April 2008, she will work at the Urban Institute for a few years before returning to graduate school.

Seema Singh, Undergraduate Research Assistant

Seema Singh is a senior completing her B.A. in Economics and will graduate in April 2008. During her undergraduate studies, she has taken several courses on social welfare policy at the Ford School. After graduation she plans to work before attending graduate school. When the weather is nice she likes to play tennis.

Elias Walsh, Graduate Student Research Assistant

Elias has a Masters in Public Policy from the Gerald R. Ford School, and a B.A. in Mathematics and Philosophy from Cornell College. He taught high school mathematics in Chicago as a Teach For America corps member where he learned a great deal about humility. While at the Ford School he interned at the Government Accountability Office where he worked on projects relating to No Child Left Behind and higher education financial aid. His fields of specialization are Labor Economics and Public Finance.