ETS Appoints Dr. Odis Johnson Jr. as Edmund W. Gordon Chair for Policy Research and Evaluation

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PRINCETON, N.J. (Aug. 5, 2024) – Educational Testing Service (ETS) announces the appointment of Dr. Odis Johnson Jr. as the new Edmund W. Gordon Chair for Policy Research and Evaluation. In this role, Dr. Johnson will guide policy research to advance equitable access to quality education and fair assessment for all learners, including underrepresented populations. 

“We are truly fortunate to have a scholar of Odis’s caliber joining ETS as our new Gordon Chair,” said Amit Sevak, CEO of ETS. “Odis embodies the same unwavering commitment to quality, equity and social justice in education that Dr. Gordon and ETS embrace.” 

With an extensive background in social policy and STEM equity, Dr. Johnson will strengthen the ambitious agenda of the ETS Research Institute, which focuses on developing frameworks for innovative personalized assessments that will enable every learner to demonstrate the full spectrum of their skills and competencies, generate crucial insights and inform educational policies globally. 

“Odis’s career is a demonstration of his commitment to addressing critical societal issues through rigorous and impact-focused research,” said Kadriye Ercikan, Vice President of Research at ETS. “As the Gordon Chair, Odis will provide invaluable insights and leadership, guiding our efforts to enhance educational access and fairness. His expertise will not only contribute to groundbreaking research, but he will also mentor the next generation of scholars dedicated to equity and social justice in education.” 

Dr. Johnson is the Bloomberg Distinguished Professor of Social Policy and STEM Equity at Johns Hopkins University and holds faculty appointments in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Bloomberg School of Public Health, the School of Education as Executive Director of the Hopkins Center for Safe and Healthy Schools and in the Department of Sociology. He also directs the National Science Foundation Institute in Critical Quantitative, Computational and Mixed Methodologies and serves as co-editor-in-chief of Sociology of Education, a journal of the American Sociological Association. 

A noted voice for justice and equity, Dr. Johnson’s work and ideas about social change were mentioned in more than 800 broadcast and news media outlets in 2023. Johnson has also been an active and valued voice on ETS’s Visiting Panel on Research for the past three years. 

The Edmund W. Gordon Chair for Policy Research and Evaluation is a unique position created at ETS in 2004 to honor the pioneering work of renowned scholar Dr. Edmund W. Gordon. The inaugural holder of this Chair was Dr. Michael T. Nettles, who served from 2004 to 2023, and is known for his research on educational policy and equity.  

About ETS 

ETS is a global education and talent solutions organization enabling lifelong learners to be future-ready. We advance the science of measurement to build the benchmarks for fair and valid skill assessment. We are committed to powering human progress by promoting skill proficiency, empowering upward mobility and unlocking more opportunities for everyone, everywhere. Our assessment products—including the TOEFL, TOEIC, GRE and Praxis assessments—along with our innovative solutions and subsidiaries, help 50 million people each year to clarify their strengths and find opportunities for growth in education, work and beyond. We continue to operate worldwide, with offices in 25 locations and operations in 200 countries and territories. For more information, visit www.ets.org.