Matthew Stagner

Matthew Stagner directs Mathematica’s Chicago office. He is a nationally known expert on youth development and risk behaviors, child welfare, teen pregnancy prevention, evaluation design, and the role of research in policymaking.

His work focuses on policies and programs for vulnerable youth, such as those transitioning out of foster care.

Prior to joining Mathematica, Stagner served as executive director of Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago and as a senior lecturer at the Irving B. Harris School of Public Policy Studies. Stagner also served as director of the Center on Labor, Human Services, and Population at the Urban Institute and director of the Division of Children and Youth Policy in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).

Among his many professional activities and honors, Stagner is a member of the Welfare and Family Self-Sufficiency Research Technical Working Group in the Office of Policy Research and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, DHHS. He has also served as a reviewer for the Children and Youth Services Review, the Journal of Adolescent Health, and the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences.

While at HHS, Stagner received the National Partnership for Reinventing Government “Hammer Award” for his help in creating the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics, as well as the Commendable Service Award. Stagner is a past president of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management and also served as the organization’s Treasurer and a member of its Policy Council. He holds a Ph.D. from the Irving B. Harris School of Public Policy Studies, University of Chicago, and a master’s in public policy from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.