Tarek Azzam, PhD

Tarek Azzam, PhD, is is Associate Director of Student Affairs for The Evaluators’ Institute and Associate Professor in the Gevirtz Graduate School of Education, University of California Santa Barbara. Azzam’s research focuses on developing new methods suited for real-world evaluations. These methods attempt to address some of the logistical, political, and technical challenges that evaluators commonly face in practice. His work aims to improve the rigor and credibility of evaluations and increase its potential impact on programs and policies. Azzam has also been involved in multiple projects that have included the evaluation of student retention programs at the K-12 and university level, Science Technology Engineering Math education programs, pregnancy prevention programs, children’s health programs, and international development efforts for the Rockefeller and Packard Foundations. Tarek Azzam is the current program chair of the Research on Evaluation TIG, and member of AEA’s recruitment committee. He was also the former program chair of the Theories of Evaluation TIG, and served as chair of AEA’s awards committee.