Dr. Balfanz is a senior research scientist at the Johns Hopkins University School of Education, where he is also co-director of Talent Development Secondary and the Everyone Graduates Center. He is a leader and a co-founder of Diplomas Now. Dr. Balfanz has published widely on chronic absenteeism, secondary school transformation, high school dropouts, EWSs and instructional interventions in high-poverty schools. In 2013, the Obama Administration recognized Dr. Balfanz as a Champion for Change in the education of African American youth. He is the first recipient of the Alliance For Excellent Education’s Everyone a Graduate Award and the Joan Lipsitz Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Forum to Accelerate Middle Grades Reform. He holds a B.A. in history from Johns Hopkins University and a PhD in education from the University of Chicago.