Debra Rog, PhD

Westat

Research Council Member

Dr. Debra Rog, a Westat vice president and president of the Rockville Institute, is a leader in evaluation with 40 years of experience in evaluating systems, housing, services, and prevention efforts for youth, families, and single adults at risk of or experiencing homelessness. She has served as the principal investigator or project director on evaluations of complex, large-scale, multisite longitudinal initiatives. In addition to homelessness and housing, her work has included evaluations involving youth transitioning from foster care, poverty alleviation and guaranteed income, diaper distribution, mental health, and substance abuse, among others. Attention to equity and including individuals with lived expertise are hallmarks of her more recent studies. Clients have included the Hilton Foundation, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Administration on Children and Families, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Center for Mental Health Services, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, among others. In addition to her work at Westat, Dr. Rog serves as the associate director of Claremont University’s Evaluators’ Institute and regularly teaches courses in mixed-methods evaluations and evaluability assessment. She is an editor for several handbooks in evaluation and research methods, and a textbook series of more than 50 books on social research methods, and an author of more than 60 articles for numerous journals. Dr. Rog is active in several professional associations and was the 2009 president of the American Evaluation Association. Prior to joining Westat, Dr. Rog directed the Washington Office for the Vanderbilt University Institute for Public Policy Studies for 17 years and also served as the associate director for the Office for Programs for the Homeless Mentally Ill for the National Institute of Mental Health.