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Paul T. Decker
President and Chief Executive Officer
Paul Decker, president and chief executive officer, is a nationally recognized expert in the design, implementation, and execution of evaluations of education and workforce development programs. Driven by the belief that good policy is based on rigorous research and objective data, Decker combines his research expertise and business understanding in pursuit of Mathematica’s mission to improve public well-being.
Since Decker assumed the presidency in 2007, Mathematica has grown to include six offices and more than 800 employees. Under his leadership, Mathematica has:
- Launched three dedicated research centers—the Center for Improving Research Evidence, the Center for Studying Disability Policy, and the Center on Health Care Effectiveness
- Expanded its international work, including formative research, situation assessments, policy analysis, and program evaluations in countries throughout Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Europe, and Latin America
- Enhanced its capacity to measure program performance, provide technical assistance, and use administrative data for program monitoring and decision making
- Diversified its work to include policy issues related to housing, veteran affairs, health care comparative effectiveness, and other areas
As a researcher, Decker is one of the nation’s leading experts on employment and training programs targeted to dislocated workers and other unemployed individuals. He has directed several evaluations of policy demonstrations as well as studies of ongoing programs such as the Trade Adjustment Assistance program, the Workforce Investment Act programs, Individual Training Accounts, and programs and interventions related to the Unemployment Insurance system. In the education field, Decker is widely known for directing Mathematica’s evaluation of the Teach For America (TFA) program, which assessed the impact of TFA teachers on student learning. He also oversaw a national study of the efficacy of different teacher preparation methods in contributing to students’ academic achievement. In addition, he has conducted studies of the link between education and worker productivity. He continues to actively participate in the design and implementation of studies using both quantitative and qualitative methods.
Decker has testified before Congress and served on advisory boards for government and academic institutions. He is president-elect of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management and has served on the strategic planning committee and the policy council. He is also chair of development on the board of advisers, Thomas Jefferson Public Policy Program, College of William and Mary. He has served as an expert adviser to both the U.S. and Canadian governments and publishes widely in peer-reviewed journals. Decker has a Ph.D. in economics from the Johns Hopkins University.
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- Areas of Expertise
- Key Projects
- Professional Activities
- Publications
- Experimental studies of policy interventions
- Study design and quantitative methods
- Workforce development and worker productivity
- Teacher preparation and performance
- President-elect, Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management
- Testified before Congress and served on advisory boards for government and academic institutions
- "Ten Years of WIA Research." In The Workforce Investment Act: Implementation Experiences and Evaluation Findings, edited by Douglas J. Besharov and Phoebe H. Cottingham. Kalamazoo, MI: W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research (2011)
- "Managing Customers' Training Choices: Findings from the Individual Training Account Experiment" (December 2006)
- "Alternative Routes to Teaching: The Impacts of Teach For America on Student Achievement and Other Outcomes." Journal of Policy Analysis and Management (2006)