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Matt Grossmann
Matt Grossmann serves as the Director of the Institute for Public Policy and Social Research and Associate Professor of Political Science at Michigan State University.
As an expert on American politics and government, his research spans national and state policymaking, election campaigns, interest groups, and political parties. His current work explores key differences between major political parties and economic inequality in policy influence. He is the author of Artists of the Possible: Governing Networks and American Policy Change Since 1945, published by Oxford University Press in 2014 and The Not-So-Special Interests: Interest Groups, Public Representation, and American Governance, published by Stanford University Press in 2012. He is author of numerous journal articles on such topics as policy change, political party networks, the legislative process and public opinion. His research appears in the Journal of Politics, Policy Studies Journal, Perspectives on Politics, American Politics Research and other publications. He is also co-author of Campaigns & Elections, a textbook available through W. W. Norton, and editor of the volume New Directions in Interest Group Politics, from Routledge. He also writes for blogs and popular media. His roots are also deep in practical politics, especially in candidate training, policy and survey research. His experience includes work at the Rose Institute of State and Local Government, the Institute of Governmental Studies, the Center for Voting and Democracy and the Center for Democracy and Technology. He served as a fellow for the Sunlight Foundation and co-authored a book for use in campaign leadership institutes. A member of MSU’s faculty since 2007, he is founder and director of the Michigan Policy Network and served as liaison to MSU’s Washington Semester Program. He received his bachelor’s degree from Claremont McKenna College, his master’s in political science in 2002 and doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley, in 2007. He became IPPSR director in January 2016. Matt is available by phone (517) 355-6672, by email at grossm63@msu.edu, on Twitter @mattgrossmann and at www.mattg.org.
Steve Tobocman
Steve Tobocman is managing partner at New Solutions Group, LLC and currently serves as the Director of Global Detroit, a regional economic development initiative focusing on Metro Detroit’s immigrant, international, and global connections to create jobs and raise incomes.
In 1998, Steve conceived of, created, and served as the executive director of Community Legal Resources, a business law pro bono program to provide free legal services to nonprofit organizations serving low-income communities across Michigan. Community Legal Resources was selected as one of the five leading nonprofit legal services programs in the nation by Power of Attorney in 2001 and Steve was honored with the American Bar Association’s Business Law Public Service Award in 2002. In 2002, Steve became the first person to unseat an incumbent member of the House of Representatives in Michigan since term limits were adopted in the mid-1990s. He served in the Michigan House for three consecutive, two-year terms (the maximum allowed under Michigan’s term limits laws.) He was elected Majority Floor Leader, the second-highest position in the Michigan House, during his third term. He is author of 24 public acts and an important contributor to such initiatives as legislation authorizing Michigan land banks and a statewide housing and community development fund. He played key roles in one of the nation’s toughest immigrant consumer protection laws, rewrote blight laws and helped strengthen protections for low-income tenants against eminent domain. Prior to his election to office, he served a year of service in Americorps and was a founding board member of Community Development Advocates of Detroit and the Community Economic Development Association of Michigan. He earned his Juris Doctor, cum laude, from the University of Michigan Law School and a Masters in Public Policy from U of M’s Ford School of Public Policy. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics earned at the University of Virginia. He is available at steve.tobocman@gmail.com.
Susy Heintz Avery
Susy Heintz Avery is a veteran of political campaigns and public administration.
She was an elected trustee, clerk and supervisor of Northville Charter Township before elected a Wayne County Commissioner representing the communities of Livonia, Plymouth and Northville. She also served on the Michigan Commission of Intergovernmental Relations, the Detroit Water Board, the Southeastern Michigan Transportation Authority’s Board of Directors, the Southeastern Council of Governments’ Executive Committee, Chair of the Rouge River Watershed Council and the first executive Director of the Conference of Western Wayne. She’s been a member of the Board of Directors of Blue Cross/Blue Shield, on the Board of Directors for the Automobile National Heritage Area and on the Board of Directors for Achieve 121. She was an Advisory Board Member of the Great Lakes Education Project. In the 1990s, she was tapped by Gov. John Engler to serve as the chair of the Michigan Republican Party. She left that post in 1996 to run a hotly contested congressional race against long-time Democratic incumbent David Bonior. She lost that race, but gave Bonior one of his closest elections ever. Engler named her state Director of Travel and Tourism and Gov. Rick Snyder appointed her executive director of the Michigan Women’s Commission, a post from which she recently retired. She’s hosted two cable television programs, been a frequent panelist on CBS television and radio programs, managed political campaigns, worked for the Wayne County Airport Authority and as advancement director at The Henry Ford – Greenfield Village. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Michigan-Dearborn, and was named “Alumni of the Year.” She’s been listed in “Who’s Who in American Women” and “Who’s Who in Executives and Business,” and is winner of numerous civic and humanitarian awards. Among her awards are the Award of Excellence from the Michigan Aeronautics Commission and the President’s Award from the Michigan Association of Airport Executives.
Linda Cleary
Linda Cleary is Administrator of the Michigan Political Leadership Program, joining IPPSR in 2009.
Prior to joining the MPLP staff, Linda's career focused on the hospitality industry, financial management and securities and marketing and sales. She is a graduate of the State University of New York at Delhi, worked for the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island and in securities for a financial investment firm. In addition to her other positions, she has been administrator for the Michigan Political History Society. She can be reached at 517-353-0891 or at clearyl@msu.edu.
Katherine Cusick
Katherine Cusick is Research Assistant for IPPSR, assisting Michigan Political Leadership Program with programming and logistics. Ms. Cusick has been with IPPSR since 1994.
During her tenure, Katherine served 11 years as Director of the Office for Survey Research's telephone interviewing facility. Prior to her work at IPPSR, she was a Court Investigator with the State of Michigan for eight years and a Director of Residential Life at Barry University and the University of Detroit Mercy. Katherine's volunteer activities include serving on the Alumni Board of Directors at Siena Heights University and as a Commissioner with the East Lansing Housing Commission. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor with the State of Michigan. Katherine is available at 517-353-1357 or at cusickk@msu.edu.
Charles L. Ballard
Dr. Ballard is Director of the State of the State Survey (SOSS) and Professor of Economics at Michigan State University. He is a distinguished economist, widely published and well-known for his ability to communicate the complexities of economics in everyday language.
His research has focused on such topics as tax policy, healthcare financing and Michigan's financial future. Charles Ballard has been on the Economics faculty at Michigan State University since 1983, when he received his Ph.D. from Stanford University. In 2007, he became Director of the State of the State Survey, in MSU’s Institute for Public Policy and Social Research. Also in 2007, he won the Outstanding Teacher Award in MSU’s College of Social Science. In 2011, he joined the Board of Directors of the Michigan League for Public Policy. He has served as a consultant with the U.S. Departments of Agriculture, Health & Human Services, and Treasury, and with research institutes in Australia, Denmark, and Finland. His books include Michigan at the Millennium and Michigan’s Economic Future. He co-edited "Michigan at the Millennium," a portrait of the state's fiscal and economic structure and is winner of the 2007 College of Social Science Alumni Association Outstanding Teacher Award. His most recent book is "Michigan's Economic Future: Challenges and Opportunities." He is also the author of "Real Economics for Real People" and "A General Equilibrium Model for Tax Policy Evaluation." He has served as a consultant to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Michigan Chamber of Commerce and the U.S. Department of Treasury. He can be reached at ballard@msu.edu or 517-353-2961.
Graham L. Pierce
Mr. Pierce is the Project Manager of the State of the State Survey (SOSS) and Assistant Director of MSU Usability/Accessibility Research and Consulting (UARC).
Graham is the Assistant Director of MSU Usability/Accessibility Research and Consulting (UARC), where he supervises and conducts WCAG 2.0 evaluations, advises on accessibility policy, and works on grant-funded research. Graham has conducted extensive research into making voting in elections more accessible to people with disabilities, and currently sits on the National Institute of Standards and Technology Voting Systems Human Factors Working Group and the State of Michigan Bureau of Elections Accessible Voting Systems Working Group. MSU UARC is located in the Office of the Associate Provost for University Outreach and Engagement (UOE).
Graham is also the Project Manager of the MSU State of the State Survey (SOSS), a phone survey of Michigan adults about current public policy issues that is run two to four times each year, at the MSU Institute for Public Policy and Social Research (IPPSR). He is responsible for all aspects of SOSS, including question design, programming survey instruments, managing survey samples, data weighting, and working with clients. IPPSR is located in the MSU College of Social Science.
Additionally, Graham is the Outreach Coordinator for the EDA University Center for Regional Economic Innovation at the MSU Center for Community and Economic Development (CCED). He is involved in all facets of the project, but is primarily responsible for managing the project's data collection, communications, and website. CCED is located within UOE.
Graham serves as the Vice Chair of the MSU Accommodating Technology Committee, is on the Steering Committee of the Power of We Consortium (a network of human services agencies, nonprofits, and organizations in the Lansing area), and is an active participant in many other university and community groups, including the MSU President's Advisory Committee on Disability Issues and MSU Web Governance Committee.
Graham's curriculum vitae is available at https://usability.msu.edu/pierce
Lin Stork
Lin has more than 30 years of experience in survey research, became the Director of OSR in May, 2014, and was formerly IPPSR's Director of Survey Operations since 2006.
Prior to coming to MSU, Lin worked with other highly regarded survey organizations, directing national and statewide telephone and field studies at: the University of California - Berkeley Survey Research Center; Wilder Research (St. Paul, MN); the RAND Corporation (Santa Monica, CA); Westat (Rockville, MD); the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago; and Mathematica Policy Research (Princeton, NJ). Lin is responsible for all OSR projects and supervises all OSR staff. She continues to oversee the day-to-day operations of the Lab, recruitment and training of interviewers and supervisors working in the Lab, with the assistance from the Survey Research Lab managers. Lin can be reached at 517-353-1763 or storkl@msu.edu.
Delicia Solis
Delicia Solis is Assistant Director of Survey Operations at OSR. Del started working in the IPPSR/OSR Survey Research Lab as an interviewer in 2006 while pursuing her degree in Interdisciplinary Studies: Community Relations at MSU.
Del also worked as a Lab Supervisor and a Lab Manager; she has supervised up to 150 interviewers. She is a graduate of the IPPSR/OSR Survey Operations Skills Program (SOSP). In 2014, Del joined the Bureau of Sociological Research (BOSR) at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln as an Interviewer Supervisor for the Behavior Risk Factor Surveillance Study (BRFSS). While at BOSR, she focused on English-Spanish translations, interviewer training, and quality assurance. In 2015, Del returned to MSU as a Survey Research Lab Manager. Del assists the OSR Director with the day-to-day operations of the Survey Research lab, conducts General Interviewer Trainings (GIT), CATI Training, project trainings, and Spanish trainings. Del can be reached at 517-353-9583 or solisdel@msu.edu.
Karen Clark
Karen Clark has been with OSR since 1989, and currently serves as a Senior Project Manager and Web Survey Coordinator.
Karen has programmed and managed hundreds of web surveys administered to tens of thousands of respondents, including projects overseas and in a variety of other languages. Karen has managed research projects in all modes including mixed mode studies. Her degree is in political science.
Karen can be reached at (517) 353-1764 or clarkk@msu.edu
Debra Rusz
She holds degrees in environmental sociology and wildlife management. She joined OSR in 1990 and has worked on a variety of telephone, mail and data entry projects.
Since 1997, her primary assignment has been the data and project manager for the annual Michigan Behavioral Risk Factor Survey (BRFS) and other BRFS-type surveys, such as the Asthma Follow-Up Survey, and the Cancer surveys. She has also been involved in statistical analysis and report writing for clients. Debra is available at (517) 353-1766 and ruszdebr@msu.edu.
Kyle Davis
Kyle has degrees in both Zoology and Biomedical Laboratory Science from Michigan State University. Kyle began his career at OSR as a student interviewer and was promoted to Mentor, Supervisor, Manager, Senior Manager, and was recently hired as Survey Research Manager.
He is a graduate of the IPPSR/OSR Survey Operations Skills Program (SOSP) and also the recipient of the 2014 John Tarnai Memorial Scholarship which provided a stipend that supported his attendance at the 2014 International Field Directors and Technologies Conference. Kyle assists the OSR Director with the day-to-day operations of the Survey Research Lab and manages projects of various types, such as web surveys, telephone surveys, and data entry projects. He is the project manager for the PROSTQA and RP2 studies. These studies track quality of life changes with prostate cancer patients following treatment. Kyle can be reached at 517-353-1765 or davisky1@msu.edu.
Paul J. Lavrakas
Paul J. Lavrakas, PH.D. is OSR's Senior Research Fellow. Paul is a research psychologist, currently serving as a senior methodological research advisor for several public- and private-sector organizations in the U.S., Australia, Canada, and Japan.
He served as Vice President and chief methodologist for Nielsen Media Research from 2000-2007. He was tenured Full Professor of Journalism and Communication Studies at Northwestern University (1978-1996) and at Ohio State University (1996-2000), and the founding faculty director of the Northwestern University Survey Lab (1982-1996) and the OSU Center for Survey Research (1996-2000). Among his many publications, he has written a widely read book (Sage; 1987, 1993) and many handbook chapters (e.g., Elsevier, 2010; Cambridge U. Press, 2013) on telephone survey research methods; and is the editor/author of the Encyclopedia of Survey Research Methods (Sage; 2008), co-editor/author of Advances in Telephone Survey Methods (Wiley; 2008), co-editor/author of Online Panel Research: A Data Quality Perspective (Wiley; 2014), co-author of Qualitative Research Design: A Quality Framework Approach (Guilford; 2015), and lead editor and author for Experimental Methods in Survey Research: Techniques that Combine Random Sampling with Random Assignment (Wiley, forthcoming).
AnnMarie Schneider
With over 20 years experience in communications, public policy and government relations, Schneider has directed her passion and expertise toward the creation of policy education programs.
Ann Marie leads the program planning and policy education division of MSU’s Institute for Public Policy and Social Research. Within her immediate responsibility is the Michigan Applied Public Policy Research Program, a research incentive program that has distributed more than $3 million, and; an annual forum series showcasing research expertise on pressing policy issues – both intended to nurture dialog between research experts, policymakers, and citizens. AnnMarie has been involved first-hand in the development of three keystone programs that span more than two decades: the Michigan Political Leadership Program, for citizens interested in appointed or elected office; Michigan’s Legislative Leadership Program, for freshman legislators, and; the State of the State Survey, for gauging public opinion on policy issues. AnnMarie further bridges state and international policy education by directing the Canadian Studies Center, and by serving as vice chair of a cross-border communication network, the Great Lakes Trade and Transport Hub (GLITTH) Initiative. GLITTH aims to establish Michigan, its neighboring states and provinces as a vibrant trade region and global logistics hub through regional stakeholder collaboration. She is vice president of the Midwest Association for Canadian Studies and on several advisory boards including the Community Economic Development Center and the Center for International Business and Education Research, Global Business Club.
Cindy Kyle
Ms. Kyle is an award-winning journalist with a professional background in teaching, training, consulting and internet communications.
At IPPSR she supports all the Institute's communications, internal, external and program-related for the Michigan Political Leadership Program, the annual Forum Series, the Office for Survey Research and the State of the State Survey. Operationally, she helps to craft marketing communications, assists with brand management, strategic planning and visual communications, oversees media relations and implements the Institute's web, internet and social network educational strategies in traditional and digital formats. She takes part in the MSU_Web_Dev_CAFE and MSU’s Training Design Café, and is a member of the MSU Communicators Network. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Ball State University and was a Kiplinger Fellow at The Ohio State University where she earned a Master of Arts degree. She's completed business management coursework through Aquinas College's Master of Management program and computer applications training through Lansing Community College and Michigan State University. Prior to her position at MSU, she worked with the Chicago Tribune, Associated Press, Newsweek on Campus, U.S. News & World Report and the Lansing State Journal, where she was automotive and regional editor. Moving from print to virtual media, Cindy was a specialist at CoreComm Internet Services, Inc. She has also been a journalism instructor at The Ohio State University, Wayne State University and Michigan State University. She is a founding member of the revitalized Michigan Journalism Hall of Fame, and past president of the Mid-Michigan Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. Cindy can be reached at 517-353-1731 and at kylec@msu.edu.
Milly Shiraev
Secretary
Secretary
James Sprague
Information Technologist
Daniel Thaler
Daniel Thaler, Ph.D. has served as the Research Analyst at OSR since December 2015. His primary responsibilities include managing and analyzing survey datasets, and translating the statistical results into written reports and oral presentations for diverse audiences.
He received his doctorate and Master's degrees in American Political Behavior and Quantitative Research Methods from the Michigan State University Department of Political Science. His dissertation on spatial models of issue voting explored how the competition between symbolic emotional attachments and technical thought...
Daniel Thaler, Ph.D. has served as the Research Analyst at OSR since December 2015. His primary responsibilities include managing and analyzing survey datasets, and translating the statistical results into written reports and oral presentations for diverse audiences.
He received his doctorate and Master's degrees in American Political Behavior and Quantitative Research Methods from the Michigan State University Department of Political Science. His dissertation on spatial models of issue voting explored how the competition between symbolic emotional attachments and technical thought influences voters' preferences about candidates' issue positions in elections. He previously held the position of Visiting Assistant Professor at Michigan State, and has helped teach graduate-level research methods classes in the MSU Political Science department as well as the Interuniversity Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) Summer Program in Ann Arbor. He is also involved in questionnaire design, programming web survey instruments, and project management. He can be reached at thalerd1@msu.edu.
Arnold Weinfeld
Arnold serves as Associate Director of the Institute for Public Policy and Social Research (IPPSR) at Michigan State University as well as Director of Urban Policy Initiatives for University Outreach and Engagement.
At IPPSR, Arnold assists with the coordination of programs such as the Michigan Political Leadership Program, Legislative Leadership Programming, State of the State Survey and issue forums. He also assists the Institute’s undergraduate and graduate fellows with their research work.
In this capacity at Outreach and Engagement, he serves as a connector and boundary spanner, working with offices such as the Center for Community and Economic Development as well as other MSU faculty, local officials and community stakeholders to develop university-community partnerships and affect urban systems and policy change at all levels.
Prior to joining UOE, Arnold served as CEO of the Prima Civitas Foundation, a community and economic development non-profit organization. He also has worked for the Michigan Municipal League where he served in a number of roles including, Director of State and Federal Affairs, Director of Strategic initiatives and President of the Michigan Municipal League Foundation.
Arnold began his career with the Michigan House of Representatives where he worked as a legislative aide, policy analyst and policy director. He has served his own community as an elected member of the Waverly Community Schools Board of Education and is currently on his local planning commission. He is also on the board of statewide organizations such as Creative Many Michigan, the Michigan Recreation and Parks Association, and Michigan Rural Council. He is a graduate of Michigan State University’s College of Social Science Multi-Disciplinary Program.