Cross-disciplinary Staff Researchers

Ph.D., Southern Methodist University

Dr. Eva Chiang received her Ph.D. from Southern Methodist University in Education, and she was named a University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA) Clark Scholar in her third year. She also holds a J.D. from Texas A & M School of Law, an M.A.T. from Texas Women’s University, and a B.A. in writing from Baylor University. At SMU she teaches quantitative methods, program evaluation, and strategic talent management.

In addition to her role at SMU, Dr. Chiang is the Managing Director of Leadership and Programming at the George W. Bush Institute. In this role, she leads the Bush Institute’s evaluation and research work, leadership programming, and The Catalyst journal. She is the lead evaluator on the School Leadership Initiative, and she is responsible for the curriculum and design of the Bush Institute’s leadership programs, including the Presidential Leadership Scholars program and the Stand-To Veteran Leadership Program.

Previously, Dr. Chiang taught pre-k through college level students, trained teachers, developed curriculum, and designed programs. Her research interests include talent management in schools and evaluation methods.

M.Ed., Southern Methodist University

Dylan Farmer is the Assistant Director of Strategic Partnerships for The Addy Foundation Center on Research and Evaluation (CORE) at Southern Methodist University. She has worked with the Simmons School of Education and Human Development at SMU since 2009. She joined CORE in 2013 where she now oversees a portfolio of research and evaluation projects, primarily focusing in the areas of early childhood education and after-school and summer programming. In her role as the Assistant Director of Strategic Partnerships at CORE, Dylan focuses on developing client relationships with key community public school, nonprofit and philanthropic partners. Additionally, she has a passion for collaboration with community partners and leveraging partnership, data interoperability, legal infrastructure, and formative evaluation to create systems for data-informed continuous improvement aimed at helping youth and families in underserved communities gain access to quality education and social-sector program services.

Ed.D., Southern Methodist University

Dr. Anne Marie Light is a Research Project Manager with Research in Mathematics Education (RME) at Southern Methodist University in the Simmons School of Education and Human Development. The project she works on focuses on mathematics intervention for students with learning difficulties in mathematics. This year she spent time with future educational leaders teaching a course in The Accelerated School Leadership Program (ASLP). Prior to joining RME, Dr. Light spent 8 years working in Dallas Independent School District in Dallas, TX as a teacher and instructional coach. She taught Algebra 1, was the Math Department Head, Lead Instructional Teacher and New Teacher Support. Her latest accomplishment was earning her Doctorate of Education in Educational Leadership from Southern Methodist University in 2023. Her dissertation focused on teacher retention and detailed how high-performing veteran teachers became the resilient educators they are now. Dr. Light’s passion resides in teacher retention, new teacher development, mathematics education, and fostering connections with other educational leaders.