Director of the Survey Research Center

The University of Michigan invites nominations and applications for the position of Director of the Survey Research Center (SRC) at the Institute for Social Research (ISR).

Founded in 1946, the Survey Research Center (SRC) is an international leader in interdisciplinary social science research involving the innovative collection and analysis of data, especially data from scientific sample surveys. The largest of five research Centers housed at ISR, SRC conducts some of the most widely cited and influential studies in the world, including the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, the Monitoring the Future Project, the Health and Retirement Study, and the University of Michigan Survey of Consumers. SRC’s studies contribute to science and policy, both nationally and internationally, in many areas including economic behavior, health, human development and aging, substance use and abuse, and family formation and development in the U.S. and abroad. SRC also has a core group of faculty focusing on the development and evaluation of behavioral interventions in areas including education, mental health, and substance use. The Center’s Survey Research Operations (SRO) unit provides cutting-edge study design, data collection, and data processing services that are invaluable for other ISR Centers, University researchers, and scientists across the nation and the world. SRC advances the science of social research through its education programs including the MS and PhD programs of the Michigan Program in Survey and Data Science (MPSDS) and the SRC Summer Institute.

SRC is an organization of approximately 80 core research faculty, 70 affiliated faculty, and 350 other employees who include professional and administrative staff, undergraduate and graduate student research assistants, and research fellows.  The SRO unit also employs approximately 500 field staff conducting interviews throughout the country. The annual operating revenues of SRC are in excess of $82 million, principally from external research grants and contracts. 

SRC is driven by and organized around faculty-led research programs. The SRC Director works within this structure to administer SRC’s scientific, human, and financial resources. Specific responsibilities of the Director’s Office include leadership in Center administration; faculty hiring, mentoring, and promotions; visionary intellectual leadership in support of the Center’s shared mission of high-quality scientific data creation and research; oversight of staff hiring, development, and support; strategic planning and financial forecasting; supervision of SRC’s graduate program; leadership and advocacy for the Center’s diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts; and management of a Center-wide annual operating budget. The SRC Director is also the Center’s chief representative to the rest of the ISR community and coordinates with Institute leadership across a range of functions, including fostering collaboration with the broader UM community and participating in the Institute’s development, communications, and diversity, equity, and inclusion activities. The Director of SRC reports to the Director of ISR.

This is an exceptional opportunity for an accomplished social scientist to join a team of renowned scholars in maintaining and enhancing SRC’s long-standing role in the social sciences. 

John Muckle is leading this search with Kahn Lee and Karson Freeman.

For fullest consideration, interested candidates should submit their current CV/resume and statement of interest by March 1, 2023.


The University of Michigan is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer dedicated to the goal of building a culturally diverse and pluralistic university community committed to teaching and working in a multicultural environment. Potential applicants who share this goal are encouraged to apply.