2023 Alumni Award Recipients

Evan joined Netflix in 2017 as a senior data scientist and was quickly promoted to senior manager of product innovation focusing on messaging, advertising, and growth algorithms. He currently leads cross-functional teams to apply machine learning (ML) in ways that make Netflix better for consumers. His domain includes the Netflix personalized messaging program, including email, push notifications, and in-app notification center, and all applications of ML in the company's growth organization, including customer acquisition, programmatic advertising, payments processing, help center, identity, and security.

An adjunct professor since 2021, he says he takes "everything I have learned in industry about running experiments and teaching it to future economists and data scientists."

Prior to Netflix, Evan worked at Capital One first as a data scientist and later as a manager of data science.

Originally from Los Angeles, Richard moved to Albuquerque in 2010 to work with Albuquerque Public Schools to increase the strategic use of data and accountability as a Fellow at Harvard Graduate School of Education’s Center for Education Policy Research Strategic Data Project. While in New Mexico, he was asked to serve on the state teacher evaluation advisory council (NMTEACH), and spent four years at Santa Fe Public Schools as the Chief Information and Strategy Officer, where he led the digital learning, technology, accountability, and data analysis initiatives of the district, culminating in the design and implementation of their first 1:1 Digital Learning Plan for all students.

Before his Ph.D., Richard taught high school science in the Los Angeles Unified School District for three years. He holds a bachelor of science in engineering and applied science (computer science/electrical engineering) from the California Institute of Technology.

Deeply committed to equity in education, Richard returned to Albuquerque Public Schools in 2016 as their Chief Information and Strategy Officer to continue his strategic approach to improving educational outcomes for all students. For his work there, he was named one of New Mexico’s Top 40 under 40. He currently holds board seats as the president of Education Analytics, the treasurer of the Association for Education Finance and Policy (AEFP), and the president of the New Mexico Scholastic Esports Federation. He lives in Albuquerque with his wife and fellow Pardee RAND alum, Claudia Diaz Fuentes, and their two children.

Working with the National Research Council, Beth provides program-wide leadership for research at Kaiser Permanente, coordinates the development and implementation of national research strategy, oversees and supports research administration throughout Kaiser Permanente, represents and communicates about Kaiser Permanente research internally and externally, and works with national and regional leadership to promote Kaiser Permanente research and assure its contribution to improved care for members and improved health in the communities we serve. She is also responsible for the strategic direction and scientific oversight of CESR, which is designed to improve the health and well-being of Kaiser Permanente’s members and the public by conducting comparative effectiveness and safety research and implementing findings in policy and practice.

Beth is the principal investigator for the Kaiser Permanente-led PCORnet clinical data research network, PORTAL and serves on the PCORnet Executive Committee. She is an internationally known expert on methods for evaluating the appropriateness and quality of health care delivery. Beth has also led major initiatives to evaluate health reform options under consideration at the federal and state levels. Prior to joining Kaiser Permanente, Beth was the associate director of RAND Health and held the RAND Distinguished Chair in Health Care Quality. She received AcademyHealth’s Distinguished Investigator Award in 2012.

A member of the National Academy of Medicine, Beth also chairs the American Board of Internal Medicine Foundation Board of Trustees as well as the National Advisory Council for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s Scientific Advisory Group.

Beth received her bachelor’s degree in international political economy from Colorado College, her master’s degree in public policy from the University of Michigan’s Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, and her doctorate in public policy analysis from the Pardee RAND Graduate School.

At CAPE, Kay oversees a portfolio that includes global posture issues; facilities, maintenance, and training activities; and analyses of readiness and stress on the force.

Prior to her current position, she was a senior operations research analyst within CAPE’s Space and Intelligence Programs Division. There she developed the initial U.S. Space Force budget and transition plan, conducted studies of emerging space warfighting capabilities, and led the annual program review for space capabilities involving stakeholders from across the Defense enterprise.

Previously Kay worked a wide range of topics for CAPE including Force Structure Modeling, Science and Technology, and the 30-year Defense Program Projection. She also served as a special assistant to the CAPE Director and as a research analyst at RAND and the Institute for Defense Analyses. In addition to her Ph.D. in policy analysis from the Pardee RAND Graduate School, she has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in aerospace engineering from MIT.

His work focuses on the development of new computational methods for studying decision making under uncertainty. He currently leads applied research work on water and energy sectors, developing new simulation models and assisting stakeholders in decision making processes. He leads the Decision Sciences initiative of Tecnológico de Monterrey and the research group on Government and Public Entrepreneurship. He co-leads applied policy research on climate change policy in several countries in Latin America, including Costa Rica, Argentina, and Chile. He teaches courses on systems modeling, advanced simulation techniques, econometrics, microeconomics and machine learning.

Previously, Edmundo was lead researcher of Mexico’s Science and Teachnology Council Energy Knowledge Networks. In this capacity, he coordinated a multinational team of researchers in the development of energy models and was the lead facilitator of stakeholders’ workshops with various energy institutions in Mexico, including the Ministry of Energy and PEMEX. He was also the lead reseacher of Nuevo Leon’s long-term water strategy.