Alkin, Marvin C.

(b. 1934, New York). Ed.D. Stanford University; M.A. Education, and B.A. Mathematics, San Jose State College.

Alkin was instrumental in helping to shape the field of evaluation through his work on evaluation utilization and comparative evaluation theory. He drew attention to ways of categorizing evaluation theories and provided the discipline with a systematic analysis of the way in which evaluation theories develop. Asa professor, Alkin developed novel ways of teaching graduate-level evaluation courses, including the use of simulation and role-playing.

His interest in systems analysis was cultivated through his association with Professor Fred MacDonald in the Educational Psychology Department at Stanford University. His thinking and early writings on cost-benefit and cost-effective analysis were fostered by Professor H. Thomas James, also at Stanford University. He was also influenced by his collegial relationships with other evaluators, such as Dan Stufflebeam, Bob Stake, and Michael Quinn Patton.

Alkin founded and served as the Director of the Center for the Study of Evaluation at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), which gave him the opportunity to expand his thinking about issue related to evaluation theory. He was Editor-in-Chief for the Encyclopedia of Educational Research (6th edition) and Editor of Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis (1995–1997). He is also a Founding Editor of Studies in Educational Evaluation. He received the American Paul F. Lazarsfeld Award from the American Evaluation Association for his contributions to the theories of evaluation.

He is a grandfather of five grandchildren and a dedicated UCLA basketball fan, having attended the full season every year since 1965.