“Where your talents and the needs of the world cross, there lies your vocation.”
-Aristotle
The holistic approach of the Ford Program is reflected in the diversity of experiences of our staff. From service trips to research, classes to popular media, each of us became involved with issues of human development in different ways. We welcome anyone with a concern for issues of extreme poverty and human dignity to contact us and find out about the Ford Program.
Staff
Rev. Bob Dowd, CSC, Director
Rev. Robert Dowd, CSC, ’87, a Kellogg faculty fellow and assistant professor of political science at the University of Notre Dame, is an Africanist whose research interests include religion, development, and political culture. The author of several articles on how religion and ethnicity affect political transitions in Africa, he recently completed a book manuscript, "Christianity, Islam and Liberal Democracy: Lessons from Sub-Saharan Africa.” His current research, supported by a grant from the Templeton Foundation, focuses on how Christianity and Islam affect political attitudes and economic activities in Nigeria, Senegal, and Uganda. Ordained a Holy Cross Priest in 1994, Dowd holds a PhD in political science from the University of California, Los Angeles, as well as a BA in economics from the University of Notre Dame.
William Evans, Director of Research
Bill Evans, the Keough-Hesburgh Professor of Economics at Notre Dame, strategically guides and oversees the research of the Ford Program. In his own work, his principal interests are in applied microeconomics labor economics, the economics of education, public finance, industrial organization, and health economics. He is recognized for the use of state-of-the-art econometric techniques to analyze health and education outcomes and the policies used to improve them. The editor of the Journal of Human Resources, he is also a research associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research and a member of the National Advisory Committee for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Scholars Program.
Lacey Haussamen, Assistant Director for Research and Community Engagement
Lacey Haussamen ’03 has spent significant time living and working in Uganda and brings her love of working with communities and on-the-ground experience to the Ford Program. She taught sciences at Holy Cross secondary schools in Uganda, worked with the UN and other community based organizations on various health issues and spent time in Washington DC on Africa-related advocacy work. Collaborating closely with partners at Uganda Martyrs University, she manages Ford’s community development projects in Uganda. In addition, she manages the program’s academic and organizational partnerships as well as research collaborations. Haussamen holds an MPH in global health with a special focus on community health and development from the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University and a BS in biology from the University of Notre Dame.
Tony Pohlen, Assistant Director for Administration and Academic Affairs
Tony Pohlen ’97 brings on-the-ground experience in Uganda as well as academic grounding in development studies to his Ford position. As a lay volunteer with the Congregation of Holy Cross, he spent four years teaching math, physics, and religious education at a secondary school in Jinja, Uganda. At Ford, he manages curriculum development, student programs, and fundraising and, with Haussamen, cultivates and fosters partnerships. Pohlen holds an MSc in violence, conflict, and development from the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies as well as a BA in theology and sociology from the University of Notre Dame.
