Uniting
Research and Policy

Alicia S. Menendez is a Pearson Faculty Affiliate, Research Associate Professor at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy, and a Principal Research Scientist at NORC at the University of Chicago. Menendez is a development economist whose research interests include education and health, labor markets, and household behavior. She is currently leading the evaluation of multiple USAID education programs around the world aimed at improving quality in early grade education, increasing equitable access to education in crisis and conflict-affected environments, and promoting girls’ education. Menendez has designed and managed numerous quantitative impact evaluations and qualitative evaluations and has developed tools and overseen surveys in numerous developing countries.

Menendez received her PhD in economics from Boston University. Before coming to the University of Chicago, she was a lecturer in public and international affairs at the Woodrow Wilson School and a researcher at the Research Program in Development Studies at Princeton University.