Ross Hammond, PhD

Ross Hammond, PhD

Betty Bofinger Brown Associate Professor, Brown School, Washington University in St. Louis

With over 20 years of experience in complex systems science modeling methodologies, Ross Hammond brings his expertise in these approaches to problems in social science, public policy and public health. Hammond’s research applies complex systems tools to generate new insights into the social dynamics that drive many difficult policy problems, as well as to identify potential leverage points or windows for intervention. He is a senior fellow in economic studies at the Brookings Institution, where he is director of the Center on Social Dynamics and Policy. He also holds academic appointments at Harvard School of Public Health and the Santa Fe Institute.

Matt Kasman, PhD

Matt Kasman, PhD

Assistant Research Director, Brookings Institution Center on Social Dynamics and Policy

Matt Kasman is the Assistant Research Director at the Brookings Institution Center on Social Dynamics and Policy. He received his undergraduate degree in Computer Science from Boston University and, after working for software startups that were sold to Microsoft, Google, and Blackbaud, obtained a Masters in Politics and Education from Columbia University. He received his doctorate in Educational Policy at Stanford University in 2014. His dissertation explores how policy interacts with geography and decision-making to generate patterns in student enrollment over time in a large urban school district. Through both his doctoral research and work at Brookings he has gained extensive experience in applying complex systems approaches to educational policy analysis, public health topics, and biological systems. His current research interests include childhood obesity prevention efforts, food systems, literacy development, social diffusion, school choice, affirmative action in higher education, teacher labor markets, educational equity, tobacco regulatory policy, and adaptive decision-making.