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Amanda Lenhart Joins Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research as Senior Research Scientist

Press Release

Bethesda, MD, Aug. 31, 2016—Amanda Lenhart, one of the foremost experts on how youth and families use technology, is joining The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. For more than a decade, Lenhart has studied how digital technology influences education, how mobile phones are changing family life, and how social networks are transforming teenagers’ relationships.

“Amanda is a valuable addition to The AP-NORC Center. The issues she works on are among the most pressing ones we face as a society,” said Dan Gaylin, president and CEO of NORC at the University of Chicago. “We are bombarded by information via digital devices in what feels like every waking moment, and Amanda will help us conduct objective and insightful research on the impact of digital technology. We are excited to have her expertise at NORC.”

Most recently a researcher with Data & Society, Amanda formerly served as associate director for research at the Pew Research Center. While there she directed research on teens, young adults, children, and families with an emphasis on digital media and technology.

“I’m delighted to join a research organization that is devoted to producing high-quality, objective, and thoughtful work," said Amanda Lenhart. "I’m looking forward to working with my new AP-NORC colleagues and outside partners to explore the impacts of digital technology on our lives and the lives of our children.”

“Amanda brings extensive knowledge and understanding of young people to The AP-NORC Center along with significant methodological expertise,” said Trevor Tompson, a vice president at NORC and the director of The AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Tompson noted that, “Amanda is uniquely qualified to help The AP-NORC Center expand its portfolio in media and technology research as we seek to bring new insights to all of our various audiences, including journalists, media executives, policymakers, and citizens.”

Amanda graduated magna cum laude from Amherst College with a double major in English and anthropology, and earned a masters with distinction from Georgetown University in communications, culture, and technology. She will join NORC in September in a part-time status and will transition to full-time as she completes her foundation-funded projects on cyberabuse, educational technology and young children, and mobile news consumption among American youth.

“Amanda is a valuable addition to The AP-NORC Center. The issues she works on are among the most pressing ones we face as a society.”

Dan Gaylin

President and CEO

“Amanda is a valuable addition to The AP-NORC Center. The issues she works on are among the most pressing ones we face as a society.”

About The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research
The AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research taps into the power of social science research and the highest-quality journalism to bring key information to people across the nation and throughout the world.

The Associated Press (AP) is the essential global news network, delivering fast, unbiased news from every corner of the world to all media platforms and formats. Founded in 1846, AP today is the most trusted source of independent news and information. On any given day, more than half the world’s population sees news from AP.


About NORC at the University of Chicago

NORC at the University of Chicago conducts research and analysis that decision-makers trust. As a nonpartisan research organization and a pioneer in measuring and understanding the world, we have studied almost every aspect of the human experience and every major news event for more than eight decades. Today, we partner with government, corporate, and nonprofit clients around the world to provide the objectivity and expertise necessary to inform the critical decisions facing society.

www.norc.org

Contact: For more information, please contact Eric Young at NORC at young-eric@norc.org or (703) 217-6814 (cell).


The two organizations have established The AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research to conduct, analyze, and distribute social science research in the public interest on newsworthy topics, and to use the power of journalism to tell the stories that research reveals.