Senior Scholar Lois-ellin Datta, Ph.D., is president of Datta Analysis, and provides consulting services in statistics, evaluation, and policy analysis internationally. She has a Ph.D. in comparative and physiological psychology, an M.A. in social psychology from Bryn Mawr College, and an M.A. in sociology and B.A. in psychology from West Virginia University. In addition to many technical reports, Dr. Datta has written over 100 articles and three books.

Dr. Datta spent many years in Washington, D.C., serving as a postdoctoral fellow, Laboratory of Psychology, National Institutes of Health (1963-1968); National Director, Project Head Start Evaluation, U.S. Office of Economic Opportunity (1968-1970); National Director, Head Start Evaluation and Director of Research, Children’s Bureau, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (1970-1972); Director, Research and Planning, Career Education Division, National Institute of Education, U.S. Department of Education (1972-1978); Director, Teaching, Learning and Assessment Division, National Institute of Education, U.S. Department of Education (1978-1982); and Director, Research in the Human Service Areas, Program Evaluation and Methodology Division, U.S. General Accounting Office (1982-1989).

She has served as a board member for the Evaluation Research Society and the American Evaluation Association, and is a past-president of the American Evaluation Association. She was chief editor for New Directions in Evaluation, and serves on the editorial boards of the American Journal of Evaluation, International Encyclopedia of Evaluation, and the International Handbook of Education, among others. Dr. Datta is a member of Sigma Xi and Phi Beta Kappa. She has received numerous awards including Myrdal Award in Evaluation, American Evaluation Association; Ingle Award, American Evaluation Association; Davis Award, Knowledge Utilization Society; Distinguished Service Award, U.S. General Accounting Office, and Comptroller General’s Award, U.S. General Accounting Office.