News Release
December 08, 2003
Lumina Foundation adds research and evaluation staff
Lumina Foundation for Education announced today the appointment of Heather Wathington as senior research officer and Rachelle Swan as evaluation associate. Wathington will assist with the Foundation’s research on student access and success in postsecondary education, while Swan will support the Foundation’s internal and external evaluation efforts.“Research and evaluation bolster our grant-making activities; one provides a firm foundation, and the other ensures that we learn from each project,” said Martha D. Lamkin, Lumina Foundation’s president and CEO. “I’m pleased that our research and evaluation staff are increasing to support our growing grant portfolio.”
About Heather Wathington
Wathington’s background blends experience in higher education and research. Most recently, she served as director of programs in the office of Diversity, Equity and Global Initiatives at the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) in Washington, D.C. In addition to directing the office’s grant programs, she also published Diversity Digest, AAC&U’s quarterly newsletter. Prior to AAC&U, she worked at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor as a graduate research assistant for The Kellogg Forum on Higher Education for the Public Good and as lead research associate on a federally funded grant project, “Preparing College Students for a Diverse Democracy.”
Wathington serves on several national committees and boards dedicated to diversity issues, including the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies’ steering committee on bridging race and ethnicity; the Democracy Collaborative, the University of Maryland’s advisory board on democracy and diversity; and the advisory board for a recent publication from the Southern Poverty Law Center titled 10 Ways to Fight Hate on Campus.
Wathington is an honors graduate of Wellesley College in Wellesley, Mass., and earned a master’s degree in higher education policy and administration from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. She is a doctoral candidate at the Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education at the University of Michigan.
About Rachelle Swan
Swan’s experience includes hands-on evaluation and research. Most recently, she served as the director of research and policy analysis for the Indiana Youth Institute in Indianapolis. In early 2000, she was a senior research associate for the Military Family Research Institute at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind. Her publication credits include the Journal of Family Psychology and the Journal of Educational Computing Research. She has made presentations on a variety of research and evaluation topics to several organizations, including the American Evaluation Association, the Society of Research in Child Development and the National Council on Family Relations.
Swan graduated with honors with a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of California at Riverside. She also earned a master’s degree in social ecology and a doctorate in human development from the University of California at Irvine.
Lumina Foundation for Education, a private, independent foundation, strives to help people achieve their potential by expanding access and success in education beyond high school. Through research, grants for innovative programs and communication initiatives, Lumina Foundation addresses issues surrounding access and success — particularly among underserved student groups, including adult learners. The Foundation bases its mission on the belief that postsecondary education remains one of the most beneficial investments that individuals can make in themselves and that society can make in its people.
For more information, contact Susan Conner at sconner@luminafoundation.org or 317.951.5490.
