Thomas Brock

Tom joined IES in 2013 and served as the Commissioner for NCER from 2013 – 2018. Prior to joining IES, Tom served as director of the Young Adults and Postsecondary Education Division at MDRC. He led MDRC's higher education projects, which focused primarily on finding ways to increase academic achievement, persistence, and completion among low-income college students. Moreover, under the auspices of the IES-funded National Center for Postsecondary Research, Tom oversaw evaluations of learning communities and summer enrichment programs for students in need of developmental education. Tom also served in various other capacities at MDRC—including research associate, management associate, special assistant for operations and development, and senior research associate—leading and directing implementation research on welfare reform and anti-poverty programs. Before joining MDRC, Tom served as an evaluation officer at the Wallace Foundation, where he managed a portfolio of research and evaluation grants in education, youth services, and the arts, in addition to developing survey instruments and research protocols. Tom holds a B.A. in Anthropology from Pitzer College, a master's degree in Public Administration from Columbia University, and a Ph.D. in Social Welfare from the University of California, Los Angeles.