Umut Özek, a senior researcher at the American Institutes for Research, will speak at the University of Arkansas on Friday, Feb. 28, in a lecture titled, "The Effects of Disaster Migrants on Host Communities: The Case of Hurricane Maria."

The program will be at noon in room 343 of the Graduate Education Building. The Friday lecture series is hosted by the Department of Education Reform of the University of Arkansas College of Education and Health Professions.

Özek is not only a senior researcher at the American Institutes for Research, but also an affiliated researcher with the National Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research. He was formerly a research associate with the Education Policy Center at the Urban Institute. His research interests include the economics of education, public economics and health economics.

Özek's recent research focuses on school choice reforms with emphasis on open enrollment programs, investigating the empirical aspects of such programs by analyzing their impact on households' public school choice behavior and student outcomes as well as the theoretical aspect by evaluating different assignment mechanisms that are commonly used to implement these programs.

Unless otherwise indicated, all lectures will be held at noon on Fridays in GRAD 343. Please make sure to RSVP before 1 p.m. on the Wednesday before the scheduled lecture.

The 2019-20 lecture series and other information can be found on the website of the department.