Dillon Ruddell is an analyst on Ithaka S+R’s Educational Transformation team and works predominantly on the Kessler Scholars Evaluation project. Prior to joining Ithaka S+R, Dillon worked as a research analyst at ICF International where he supported the evaluation of child welfare program support delivered to agencies across the 50 states and its territories. Dillon’s past research expands topics such as juvenile incarceration, college-going behavior, ethnic identity in education, and housing insecurity.

Dillon obtained his master’s degree in applied social research from Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland where his dissertation explored the relationship between student belonging and academic motivation among refugees, asylum seekers, and other unaccompanied minors in primary and secondary schools across Europe. Dillon also received his bachelor’s degree in Psychological and Brain Sciences from the University of California, Santa Barbara. His undergraduate research examined the relationship between high school ethnic studies course enrollment and students’ college-going self-efficacy.