Professor Rivas Drake received her Ph.D. in the Combined Program in Education and Psychology from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She comes to Brown University from a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship at NYU's Center for Research on Culture, Development and Education. Dr. Rivas Drake's research questions focus on the psychological and academic consequences of economic and educational opportunity disparities among ethnic minority students from early adolescence through emerging adulthood.

Professor Steffes arrives from the History department of the University of Chicago, where she recently completed her dissertation, “A New Education for a Modern Age: National Reform, State-building, and the Transformation of American Schooling, 1890-1933.” Professor Steffes’ teaching record includes courses at the University of Chicago, Denison University, and at Indiana University-Northwest. Professor Steffes aims to inform current education policy, such as No Child Left Behind, with insights from educational and policy history.