Alex Molnar

NEPC Director Alex Molnar founded NEPC with Kevin Welner in 2010. He is a Research Professor at the University of Colorado Boulder and co-directs the Commercialism in Education Research Unit (CERU). Molnar's work has examined curriculum and instruction topics, market-based education reforms, and policy formation. He founded and directed the Center for Education Research, Analysis, and Innovation (CERAI) at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee and for six years (1995-2001) was the principal investigator for the research evaluation of Wisconsin’s SAGE class size reduction program. From 2001-2011 he directed the Education Policy Studies Research Laboratory (EPSL) at Arizona State University. Molnar is an internationally recognized expert on school commercialism; his annual reports on commercializing trends in schools have become standard reference works for experts in the field. His books include: Changing Problem Behavior in Schools (1989), Giving Kids the Business (1996), Commercialism in Education: From Democratic Ideal to Market Commodity (2005), Think Tank Research Quality: Lessons for Policymakers, the Media, and the Public (with Kevin Welner, et.al.) (2010), and Sold Out: How Marketing in School Threatens Children's Well-Being and Undermines their Education (with Faith Boninger) (2015). In the past several years he has authored or co-authored NEPC policy briefs that critically examine the use of digital platforms in education and discuss the issues raised by the introduction of artificial intelligence. Molnar has a B.A. in history, political science, and education; Masters degrees in history and in social welfare; a Specialist's Certificate in educational administration; and a Ph.D. in urban education.