Stewart Donaldson


Stewart I. Donaldson, Ph.D. is a psychologist specializing in theory-driven evaluation science, positive organizational psychology, and optimal health, well-being and human flourishing. He is a distinguished university professor, the executive director of the university’s Claremont Evaluation Center, and director of The Evaluators’ Institute at Claremont Graduate University in Claremont, California. He is deeply committed to improving lives through research, evaluation, and education. Professor Donaldson works with students on a wide range of topics across several fields and programs at CGU including evaluation theory & practice; the science of well-being and positive psychology; positive organizational & sports psychology; organizational behavior; positive organizational and human resource development; positive youth development and education; and community/global health program design, monitoring and evaluation.
Prior to his recent appointments, he provided more than 16 years of leadership and service at Claremont Graduate University including to the School of Social Science, Policy, & Evaluation, where he was the founding dean from 2013 to 2017; the School of Community & Global Health, where he was dean from 2013 to 2017; the School of Politics & Economics, where he was dean from 2012 to 2013; and the School of Behavioral & Organizational Sciences, where he was dean from 2001 to 2013. Donaldson’s portfolio in the social and health sciences included providing academic leadership for more than 100 core and supporting graduate faculty, overseeing the education of more than 650 degree-seeking graduate students, and securing grants, contracts, and gifts to support research and students.
Donaldson served as President of the American Evaluation Association in 2015. The American Evaluation Association is an international association of professional evaluators devoted to assessing the strengths and weaknesses of programs, organizations, large-scale change interventions, personnel, policies, and products to improve their effectiveness. The organization has approximately 8,000 members representing all 50 of the United States as well as over 60 other countries. He is on the Council of Advisors of the International Positive Psychology Association, was recently honored with IPPA's Work and Organizations Division 2019 Exemplary Research to Practice Award and the IPPA Student Division 2019 Inspiring Mentor Award, and appointed Faculty Advisor of the IPPA Student Division with approximately 600 student members from 50 different countries.
He was born in West Bromwich, England on 28 February 1961 but was raised and educated in California. He graduated from Chaffey High School in 1979, with an A.A. in Business Administration from Chaffey College in 1981, with a B.A. in Behavioral Science with a minor in Marketing Management from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona in 1984, with a M.A. in General Experimental Psychology from California State University, Fullerton in 1986, and he earned his PhD in Psychology specialising in Organizational Behavior and Evaluation Research from Claremont Graduate University in 1991. Before joining the faculty at Claremont Graduate University in 1995, he was on the faculty at the University of Southern California 1990–1995 and at Claremont McKenna College 1991-1993.

Research

He works with a wide range of colleagues and graduate students on applied research and evaluation projects focused on promoting optimal human, program, community, and organizational functioning. His work has been funded by The National Institute of Mental Health; The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism; National Science Foundation; US Department of Education; National Office of Justice Programs; Office of Juvenile Justice Planning; Center for Substance Abuse Prevention; National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; The Rockefeller Foundation; The California Wellness Foundation; The Howard Hughes Foundation; The David and Lucille Packard Foundation; The Hillcrest Foundation; The Weingart Foundation; The Robert Ellis Simon Foundation; The Irvine Foundation; The Fletcher Jones Foundation; The John Randolph Haynes and Dora Haynes Foundation; Riverside County Department of Mental Health; State of California Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program; Stanford Business School; First 5 Riverside; Canadian Evaluation Society, Faster Forward Fund, United Nations Institute for Training & Research, Providence St. Joseph Health, Well Being Trust, San Manuel Band of Mission Indians Foundation, Encompass LLC, Templeton Foundation, LA Dodgers Foundation, Accenture Management Company, and First 5 Los Angeles among many others. He has also provided organizational consulting, research, and evaluation services to more than 200 different organisations during the past two decades.

Professional activities

Professor Donaldson has been chair or member of more than 100 doctoral dissertation committees at Claremont, and he also works with professionals enrolled in the Non-residential Certificate of Advanced Study in Evaluation program there. He is currently serving on the Council of Advisors of the International Positive Psychology Association, a fellow of the Western Psychology Association, and recently served a 3-year term on the Board of the American Evaluation Association. He also serves on the Editorial Boards of the American Journal of Evaluation, New Directions for Evaluation, Evaluation and Program Planning, Journal of Multidisciplinary Evaluation and the International Journal of Applied Positive Psychology, is editor of the IAP Evaluation and Society book series, is co-founder of the Western Positive Psychology Association and the Southern California Evaluation Association, and served as Co-Chair of the Theory-Driven Evaluation and Program Theory Topical Interest Group of the American Evaluation Association from 1994–2002. Dr. Donaldson has been honored with a plethora of prestigious international, national, and regional career achievement awards.

Publications

His work has appeared in a broad range of peer reviewed journals, chapters, and books.

Selected books