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Barbara L. Devaney
Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer
Barbara Devaney, executive vice president and chief operating officer, is a member of Mathematica’s senior management team, which is responsible for company vision, leadership, and management.
She also oversees the direction and performance of the firm’s survey and research divisions, which include both health and human services research. A nationally recognized expert in maternal and child health, nutrition, and risk-reduction programs for youth, she has played a leading role in many of Mathematica’s studies of family formation, children’s nutrition, and public health programs.
Devaney co-directed Mathematica’s Building Strong Families study and served as principal investigator for the firm’s evaluation of abstinence education programs, which received the 2009 Outstanding Evaluation Award from the American Evaluation Association. She also oversaw Mathematica’s 2002 Feeding Infants and Toddlers Study, which provided detailed information on the food and nutrient intakes of U.S. infants and toddlers.
Other evaluations in which she has played a key role have focused on the school lunch and breakfast programs; the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC); and the Food Stamp Program. A long-term employee of the firm, she was previously an assistant professor at Duke University and the Johns Hopkins University.
Devaney has served on scientific committees convened by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, and on the policy council of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management. She has published widely in peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Journal of the American Dietetic Association, and the American Journal of Public Health. She also presents findings at conferences of researchers, policymakers, and practitioners. She has a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Michigan.
Staff Profile
- Areas of Expertise
- Key Projects
- Professional Activities
- Publications
- Maternal and child health
- Nutrition
- Risk-reduction programs for youth
- Member of the Policy Council, Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management
- National Academy of Sciences, Institute of Medicine, Planning Committee for a Workshop on a WIC Research Agenda
- National Academy of Sciences, Institute of Medicine, Food and Nutrition Board, Committee to Review the WIC Food Packages
- National Academy of Sciences, Institute of Medicine, Food and Nutrition Board, Subcommittee on Interpretation and Uses of the Dietary Reference Intakes
- National Academy of Sciences, Institute of Medicine, Food and Nutrition Board, Committee on Scientific Evaluation of WIC Nutrition Risk Criteria
- "Medicaid Costs and Birth Outcomes: The Effects of Prenatal WIC Participation and the Use of Prenatal Care." Journal of Policy Analysis & Management Classics Series: Cost-Benefit Analysis and Public Policy (2008)
- "The Truncation-by-Death Problem: What to Do in an Experimental Evaluation When the Outcome Is Not Always Defined." Evaluation Review (April 2008)
- "Impacts of Abstinence Education on Teen Sexual Activity, Risk of Pregnancy, and Risk of Sexually Transmitted Diseases." Journal of Policy Analysis and Management (spring 2008)