From the Interim Co-Editors

Abstract

After the untimely passing of the American Journal of Evaluation’s (AJE’s) Editor-in-Chief, George Julnes, the two of us—Jori Hall and Laura Peck—agreed to step in and serve as Interim Co-Editors-in-Chief while the American Evaluation Association (AEA) secured a new, permanent lead for our journal. We are grateful to George and Rachael Lawrence, AJE’s most recent Managing Editor, for ushering through the publication process of the six articles and the teaching note that appear in this issue. The articles reflect the diversity of the field of program evaluation with attention to the concept of the counterfactual (Reichardt), evaluation policy (Kinarsky & Christie), program dosage in evaluation (Hewawitharana et al.), policy advocacy (Albert et al.), evaluation capacity (Hudib & Cousins), qualitative data collection and analysis (LaChenaye & McCarthy), and evaluation competencies (Montrosse-Moorhead et al.). In addition, this issue presents an “In Memoriam” section, dedicated to and reflecting on the scholarly life of George Julnes. In our experiences with George, we believed him to be an exceptional editor for our journal because of his passion for pushing the boundaries of the field of program evaluation. He truly valued the diversity of approaches and perspectives that operate in our field and aimed to ensure that all of those approaches and perspectives earned attention in our journal. It is for that reason that he established, for example, the Experimental Methodology Section (which Laura edits) and the Economic Evaluation Section (which Brooks Bowden edits); and that he reconceptualized the Ethics, Values and Culture Section (formerly known as professional values and ethics, which Jill Anne Chouinard and Fiona Cram edit). He diversified the journal’s editorial team to ensure global representation of the many varied parts of our field, as represented by the inclusion of the International Developments Section (which Deborah Rugg and Zenda Ofir edit) and the appointment of Apollo Nkwake as an Associate Editor to bring more attention to evaluation scholars and practitioners in the Global South. George maintained the Method Note (which Tarek Azzam and Dana Wanzer edit), Teaching and Learning (which Anne Vo and Phung Pham edit), and Book Review (which Leslie Cooksy edits) Sections as having ongoing importance. In addition to Jori, Leah Neubauer, Gregory Phillips, II and Justus Randolph served as Associate Editors with George, and we have been grateful for their continued service during this transition. Upon his first “From the Editor” note, kicking off volume 40, George stated his aspirations for the journal. He desired AJE to be “(1) a top source for the most important and relevant information for members of the evaluation community and (2) an influential voice representing the expertise and values of evaluators in policy discussions that affect the evaluation community” (Julnes 2019, 158). It is our hope—during our time as Interim Co-Editors-in-Chief—that we maintain and advance George’s vision. George’s most recent academic home, the University of New Mexico’s School of Public Affairs, stated it well in their reflection on his life and work. They noted that George “never sought to impose dogma or methodology.” Instead, he advanced being good in whatever you do. George believed that