Harry J. Holzer is a professor of public policy at Georgetown University and a visiting fellow at the Urban Institute in Washington, D.C. He has served as associate dean of public policy at Georgetown (2004–06) and as acting dean in fall 2006. He is a former chief economist for the U.S. Department of Labor and a former professor of economics at Michigan State University. Dr. Holzer’s research focuses primarily on the labor market problems of low-wage workers and other disadvantaged groups. His books include The Black Youth Employment Crisis (edited with Richard Freeman, University of Chicago Press, 1986); What Employers Want: Job Prospects for Less-Educated Workers (Russell Sage Foundation, 1996); Employers and Welfare Recipients: The Effects of Welfare Reform in the Workplace (with Michael Stoll, Public Policy Institute of California, 2001); The Economics of Affirmative Action (edited with David Neumark, Edward Elgar, 2004); Moving Up or Moving On: Who Advances in the Low-Wage Labor Market? (with Fredrik Andersson and Julia Lane, Russell Sage Foundation, 2005); and Reconnecting Disadvantaged Young Men (with Peter Edelman and Paul Offner, Urban Institute Press, 2006).
Demetra Smith Nightingale is on the faculty of the Institute for Policy Studies at Johns Hopkins University, where she is a principal research scientist.Much of her research involves evaluating policies and programs, especially those related to workforce development and welfare. Another stream of her research focuses on the functioning of the labor market, particularly changes in the structure of the nation’s economy, the shift in employment opportunities for persons with limited education and skills, career ladders, nontraditional jobs for women, employment of maturing and older workers, and lifelong learning options for workers at all levels. Her books include The Work Alternative: Welfare Reform and the Realities of the Job Market (edited with Robert H. Haveman, Urban Institute Press, 1995), and The Low-Wage Labor Market: Challenges and Opportunities (edited with Kelleen Kaye, Urban Institute Press, 2000). Before joining Johns Hopkins, Dr. Nightingale spent over 25 years at the Urban Institute, most recently as a principal research associate and program director in the Labor and Social Policy Center. She is a senior affiliate of the National Poverty Center at the University of Michigan.
