| Institute for Policy Research | |
| Abbreviation: | IPR |
| Founders: | --> |
| Founding Location: | Chicago, Illinois |
| Dissolved: | --> |
| Type: | Research center |
| Purpose: | Public policy research |
| Headquarters: | 2040 Sheridan Road, Evanston, Illinois, 60208 |
| Region Served: | --> |
| Languages: | --> |
| Leader Title: | Director |
| Leader Name: | Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach |
| Leader Title2: | Associate Director |
| Leader Name2: | James N. Druckman |
| Leader Title3: | Business Administrator |
| Leader Name3: | Eric Betzold |
| Publication: | --> |
| Parent Organization: | Northwestern University |
| Formerly: | Center for Urban Affairs Center for Urban Affairs and Policy Research |
The Institute for Policy Research (IPR) is an interdisciplinary public policy research center at Northwestern University.
The Institute for Policy Research was founded in September 1968, originally as the Center for Urban Affairs, with a $700,000 grant from the Ford Foundation.[1] Raymond W. Mack, one of the Center's original co-founders, also became its first director, serving in this role until 1971. John McKnight was the Center's first associate director.[2] When the Center was first founded, Payson S. Wild, the then-vice president of Northwestern, said, "Our Center for Urban Affairs can make a unique contribution if we have scholars committed to the application of scientific research in the realm of public policy."[3] In 1983, the Center was renamed the Center for Urban Affairs and Policy Research.[4] In 1996, Fay Lomax Cook became director of the Center. Shortly thereafter, she changed its name to the Institute for Policy Research. She stepped down from her role as director in August 2012.[5]