Evaluation–the science of determining the value and impact of actions, methodologies, and projects used in just about any industry or enterprise–is really a young field, and the university’s Stewart Donaldson has been there since its earliest days.
In the late 1980s, like a graduate student studying organizational behavior and evaluation research, Donaldson were built with a revelation in a class taught by Mark W. Lipsey, among the foremost distinguished professors in the field of evaluation research.
Lipsey’s class, which checked out program evaluation, changed his life.
“I immediately knew within my gut that his focus on theory-driven evaluation was the path I wanted to follow,” Donaldson recalled. “I knew I needed to invest my entire life applying psychological science, organizational behavior, and positive organizational psychology to helping all sorts of people and organizations to thrive and flourish.”
For his devotion to evaluation and his long service within the field, Donaldson has been chosen as the person receiving the 2021 Alva and Gunnar Myrdal Evaluation Practice Award from the American Evaluation Association (AEA).
The award will be provided to Donaldson in the association’s upcoming conference, “Evaluation 2021: Speaking Truth to Power,” which begins October 29 in Cleveland.
Donaldson, based on the AEA’s award announcement, “is really a major evaluation practice thought leader in addition to a distinguished practitioner.” The AEA describes the award as recognizing an evaluator who exemplifies outstanding evaluation practice and who has made substantial cumulative contributions towards the field of evaluation through the practice of evaluation and whose jobs are in conjuction with the AEA Guiding Principles for Evaluators.
The award is known as after two ground-breaking figures, Swedish Nobel laureate Gunnar Myrdal and the wife Alva, who was a politician and diplomat.
“I am truly humbled to become recognized with this particular highest honor,” Donaldson said after receiving news of his selection. “I’m so grateful and grateful for the numerous wonderful students, colleagues, and friends who've caused me within the trenches of evaluation practice through the years.”
Donaldson served for several years in several deanships at the university, including his simultaneous roles as dean of the School of Social Science, Policy & Evaluation (SSSPE) and the School of Community & Global Health (SCGH). Today he leads the university’s evaluation efforts as the executive director of the Claremont Evaluation Center and also works as a professor of psychology and community & global health.
At a period when many organizations, especially national governments, have limited resources and should be cautious how they invest them in a variety of programs and initiatives, the need couldn’t be greater for additional evaluation science, Donaldson said.
“My hope is that one day you will see enough highly-trained, skilled evaluation practitioners to form a truly global evaluation community,” he said. “Evaluation is among the how to ensure that we can amplify the effects of programs and policies targeted at improving social betterment and justice around the world.”
