Robert L. Fischer is the Grace Longwell Coyle Professor in Civil Society, where he leads a range of evaluation research studies and teaches evaluation methods to graduate students in social work and nonprofit management. He is also co-director of the Center on Poverty and Community Development.
Since 2001, he has led the enter’s research on Invest in Children, a county-wide early childhood initiative that includes home visiting, children’s health and childcare components. Fischer is also faculty director of the Master of Nonprofit Organizations (MNO) degree program.
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Why I Teach
All of us want to have an impact in our careers. I can have impact through my personal interactions with community partners and policymakers. Teaching allows me to assist emerging professionals in preparing for their own impactful careers. My students will go on to be in many rooms that I will never be in and I like to think that I am helping them prepare to have a larger impact in those spaces acting for the social good. Plus, I learn as much from my students as they do from me.
Why I Chose This Profession
I originally thought I would pursue a position in policymaking. What I learned was that good policy is often limited by not having good evidence and research on which to base decisions. So, I turned my attention to trying to better inform the work of policy by contributing to the evidence base through social science research and evaluation. That led me to an academic career and the Center on Poverty and Community Development as the home base from which to work from.