NEWS

September 2006 | Vol. 2, No. 1

Congratulations to our new Ph.D.'s

Jal Mehta (Ph.D. in Sociology and Social Policy, 2006)

Jal Mehta, shown here with dissertation committee members Jennifer Hochschild, Christopher Jencks (Chair), Theda Skocpol, and Christopher Winship, successfully defended his dissertation, "The Transformation of American Educational Policy, 1980-2001:
Ideas and the Rise of Accountability Politics," in September 2006. Jal is currently a postdoctoral fellow with the Harvard Graduate School of Education for the 2006-08 academic years. Working with Professor Richard Elmore, Jal will continue his work on the politics and implementation of education reform since 1980.

Martin R. West (Ph.D. in Government and Social Policy, 2006)

Martin West will become Harvard's first recipient of the Ph.D. in Government and Social Policy, having successfully defended his dissertation, "Politics, Public-Sector Unionism, and Education Policy:
Explanations and Evaluations", in September 2006. Present for the dissertation defense were committee members Paul Peterson (Chair), Eric Schickler, and William Howell. Marty is now Assistant Professor of Education and Political Science at Brown University.

Wendy D. Roth (Ph.D. in Sociology and Social Policy, 2006)
Wendy D. Roth received her Ph.D. in Sociology & Social Policy in June 2006 and is now Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Wendy celebrated the defense of her dissertation, "Caribbean Race and American Dreams: How Migration Shapes Dominicans' and Puerto Ricans' Racial Identities and Its Impact on Socioeconomic Mobility," in May with committee members Mary Waters (Chair), Peggy Levitt (Wellesley College), Prudence Carter, and (not pictured) Katherine Newman (Princeton University) .