Published by Art & Science Group
Art & Science Group is a unique company and we pride ourselves on our self-identified “nerdiness”. The culture of the firm is designed to promote collaborative engagement and creative thinking as we work with clients around the country to support them in achieving their aspirations with guidance based on sophisticated research, thorough analysis, and insights based on decades of experience with educational institutions. Staff put in a lot of hours into ensuring that our work is thoughtful, innovative, precise, and authentic. We are always excited when the work of our colleagues shines through and warrants celebration.
With that in mind, we would like to congratulate Arooj Rana in her new role as Executive Director of Business Development and Strategic Communications. Having been with the company for two and half years, Arooj has enhanced our business development efforts in a variety of ways that have advanced our mission. When asked about her favorite experience from her time at Art & Science Group, Arooj shared, “I started here at a strange time in my life. My dad was diagnosed with cancer at the end of my first week of work at Art & Science. As a new staff member, I felt I was in a strange position asking my new employer and colleagues for the flexibility that would be needed in supporting my family through a difficult time. There was no hesitation amongst leadership and my colleagues as they provided me the support and time I needed to ensure I could be with my dad when he needed it the most. It is not often that a company extends that level of understanding and trust to their colleagues, much less to ones that have just begun. The kindness and genuine compassion of the folks here keep me motivated and dedicated to our work every day.”
Terry Houser, now Senior Director of Analytics, has been with the firm for 15 years. His research acumen and detailed approach to the efforts of the research team are what truly help in making our work distinctive and what consistently support clients in identifying the strategic decisions that will help them advance their missions. When asked what inspires him about his work in research, Terry said, “In my limited free time, I am a big fan of puzzles and games. I like to approach research in much the same way as when I’m trying to solve puzzles: think, then act. This is important to me because I often do my puzzles using pens, so mistakes can be costly. When it comes to research, I think critically about the best strategies to employ when answering questions and resolving issues. I also make a point to proactively think about where things could go wrong and prepare for that rare possibility with a plan in place. In that way, though I may not have an eraser for my pen mistakes in puzzles, when it comes to research, I can be prepared for all the ways, good and bad, the research could go.”
Anthony Garove, who returned to the firm two years ago after pursuing his master’s in experimental psychology, will now serve as Senior Research Associate. When asked about his favorite part of working in this kind of research, Anthony revealed that “research is inspiring to me insofar as it serves as a systematic process to understand the natural world. As a researcher, I enjoy tackling multi-faceted research questions related to human behavior and decision-making. Through experimentation and replication, researchers can provide insight and order to complex and messy natural phenomena. While theory-building research is fascinating and piques my curiosity as a social scientist, conducting applied research is particularly gratifying to me. Ultimately, I want my findings to be used in some sort of way to affect change in the world. My goal as an applied researcher is to generate evidence-based, prescriptive conclusions that can guide long-term strategy and improve the outcomes of populations, organizations, and institutions.”
And lastly, but by no means least, having started here as a temp, Neal Patterson’s hard work and commitment to research elevated him to a full-time role and, eventually to his new role as Senior Research Assistant. When asked what drew him to the research world, Neal offered that “coming from a writing background, I'm fascinated by the precision of quantitative research. Words can be vague or misconstrued, but numbers are more precise. It's a completely different field, but in many ways, the writer and the analyst are trying to achieve the same goal. That is, we are trying to tell a story about the people and circumstances that concern the client and present facts and figures in a way that relates to what the client hopes to achieve.”
We’re delighted for our colleagues as they progress through their careers here at Art & Science Group. Their insights and wisdom improve our work every day and we looking forward to seeing their progress in the years ahead.