Donna Morrison

Donna Ruane Morrison, is an Associate Professor at the McCourt School Public Policy at Georgetown University. She is also a faculty affiliate of the Center for Research in Children in the U.S. (CROCUS), the Department of Psychology, and the Georgetown Law Center. Professor Morrison holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from Johns Hopkins University, with family demography as her subfield. Morrison’s research investigates how the interplay of socio-economic circumstances and public policy influences the wellbeing of children and families. Before the start of her academic career, she served as a Senior Research Associate at Child Trends, a Washington, DC based think tank where she contributed to numerous interdisciplinary program evaluations including, the observational study component of the New Chance Demonstration project, a congressionally-mandated study of Chapter 1, and a national program to promote family-volunteering sponsored by the Points of Light Foundation. Professor Morrison has written extensively about risk factors to child development including instability in living arrangements, poverty, welfare receipt, and teen parenthood with research support from government agencies including the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the National Institute for Mental Health, and the U.S. Department of Education, and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation at the Department of Health and Human Services. Professor Morrison’s research has also examined issues related to birth outside of marriage. Using longitudinal data to track the subsequent experiences of children born to unmarried parents, she has documented that although there is a minimal economic benefit to children if their parents eventually formalize the union, the stability provided by marriage is substantial. In responses to changes in Supplemental Security Income policies for children and the work requirements of TANF, She teamed with fellow MSPP colleague, Jean Mitchell, to investigate the barriers to maternal employment faced by low-income mothers raising children with special health care needs. Currently, she is exploring how law school graduates across the age spectrum balance the demands of work, family, and leisure. Professor Morrison’s published work appears in the American Sociological Review, Demography, Science, Journal of Marriage and Family, among others. She is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society and a recipient of the MPP student-selected Outstanding Faculty Member award. Professor Morrison holds expertise in the design and implementation of large-scale social surveys and has served on technical review panels for the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort, the National Assessment of Education Progress, and the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. Professor Morrison serves as a Master’s thesis advisor for students in the McCourt School and currently teaches courses in survey research methods, child development and public policy, and children and the law.

Education

• Johns Hopkins University - Ph.D.
• Pennsylvania State University - M.A.
• Catholic University of America - B.A.