Dr. Luke Lawson received his Ph.D. in Educational Psychology specializing in Research, Evaluation, Measurement, and Statistics from Oklahoma State University. Luke has held teaching positions at New York University and Columbia University teaching psychology and advanced statistics at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. He has held research positions in both clinic and lab settings at The University of Texas, Columbia University, New York University, and Oklahoma State University. Luke’s decade of research experience has spanned work in Reinforcement / Category Learning, societal impacts of Family Migration, cognitive impacts of Parkinson’s disease, measurement of Major Depressive Disorder and General Anxiety Disorder, and academic impacts and measurement of student Social Emotional Skills.
Growing up in El Paso, Texas with a teacher for a mother, Luke has always been interested in the ways to engage students from different backgrounds. Luke’s research in studying education from a systems level began three years ago as a Research Analyst for Branching Minds and has continued through ImpactTulsa. At ImpactTulsa, Luke more formally connects his research with policy initiatives and wider frameworks to help students in Tulsa. Thus far, Luke has assisted in data leadership with My Brother’s Keeper, various Tulsa Collaborative Action Networks, and attendance initiatives at both Tulsa Public School and Union. His work investigating the impact of evictions on students at TPS is some of the first of its kind. In his work as Director of Research and Analytics he is excited to continue data leadership across the Tulsa community.
