Higher Education Reality Check

Tom K. Lindsay, Ph.D., is a distinguished senior fellow for Next Generation Texas at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. He has more than two decades’ experience in education management and instruction, including service as a dean, provost, and college president.

Andrew Gillen, Ph.D., is a senior policy analyst in the Next Generation Texas campaign and an adjunct professor of economics at Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Gillen’s recent work has focused on how to reform federal financial aid, how state disinvestment is a myth, and how post-college earnings and debt should be used to inform student choice and government accountability.

Prior to joining the Foundation, Dr. Gillen spent over a decade at nonprofit and philanthropic organizations researching and trying to improve higher education. He was a program officer for the Charles Koch Foundation and served in research roles for American Institutes for Research, Education Sector; the American Council of Trustees and Alumni; and the Center for College Affordability and Productivity. He was also on the U.S. Department of Education’s Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance.

Andrew has a Ph.D. in economics from Florida State University and a B.B.A. (business) degree from Ohio University.

Lucy was born and raised in Northern California before moving to Michigan to pursue her undergraduate education. She graduated from Hillsdale College with a B.A. in English and a minor in Classical Education. During her last summer in college, Lucy interned at the Texas Public Policy Foundation where she discovered her passion for education policy. Following her internship, she came back to the Foundation in May 2020 as the Next Generation Texas Deputy Campaign manager.