Miratrix Named Professor of Education

Harvard Graduate School of Education Dean Nonie Lesaux has announced the promotion of Luke Miratrix, a scholar whose work is characterized by asking fundamental questions in statistical inference and showing how they matter in applied educational research. Miratrix has been named professor of education, effective July 1.

Miratrix joined HGSE in 2015 as an assistant professor and was promoted to associate professor in 2020. At HGSE, his courses relate to statistics, particularly multilevel and longitudinal modeling, statistical computing, and simulation-based analysis. Miratrix also runs the Causality, Applications, and Research in Education and Statistics (C.A.R.E.S.) lab. In 2019, his work there earned him the Everett Mendelsohn Excellence in Mentoring Award from the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

“Luke’s groundbreaking research explores how best to use modern statistical methods in applied social science contexts,” says Lesaux. “His work leading the C.A.R.E.S. Lab focuses on a wide range of education-related problems as well as an array of other policy questions, from criminal justice reform through to workplace health and safety standards. As his portfolio of work continues to grow, its impact does too — and demonstrates how research can be a driving force for progress on some of the most complex problems in education.”

In 2022, Miratrix became co-chair of the Doctor of Philosophy in Education Program. He has served as an official statistics consultant for HGSE faculty and students since 2021, offering office hours to aid the HGSE community in its research endeavors. He has also served on the faculty steering committee of the Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education (COACHE) since 2021.

“It is such an honor to be so recognized,” says Miratrix. “I am really excited to take this as a moment to step back and look at what I have learned, and to figure out what I want to do with all of that knowledge.”

Prior to joining the Ed School, Miratrix worked as an assistant professor in the Department of Statistics at Harvard from 2012 to 2015. Miratrix received his doctorate in statistics from University of California, Berkeley in spring 2012 after switching to that field in 2009 from SESAME, a doctorate program in mathematics and science education. He also has an M.S. in computer science from M.I.T., a B.S. in computer science from the California Institute of Technology, and a B.A. in mathematics from Reed College. Between graduate careers, he was a high school teacher and tutor for seven years.

Miratrix described the tenure process as an opportunity to organize his work and see the impact it’s had on the field and those working alongside him.

“When I put together my CV and organized all my work, what I really ended up doing was reflecting on how almost everything I have been a part of has been a collaboration with a student or colleague,” says Miratrix, noting the kind comments and emails he’s received about his work. “I am so grateful to all of them.”

In reflecting further on the promotion, he says the support of “students, peers, and mentors” led him to this point and still encourage him to think about what’s next with his work.

“One of my mentors suggested that I read a piece that, in part, says ‘the worst mistake of getting tenure would be to change nothing,’” says Miratrix. “I am going to spend my summer thinking about that.”