Rutgers Taps Professor of Public Policy to Head John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development
Andrea Hetling succeeds Cal Van Horn, who steps down as director of the research and policy organization
Andrea Hetling has been appointed director of the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University-New Brunswick, effective Sept. 1.
She succeeds Carl Van Horn, who founded the research and policy organization in 1998.
The Heldrich Center was named for John J. Heldrich, a retired senior executive of health care corporation Johnson & Johnson, community leader and Rutgers graduate who provided a significant endowment. The center provides an independent source of analysis for reform and innovation in policymaking and uses research and evaluation methods to identify best practices in workforce development, education, employment policy and social policy.
A nationally recognized scholar of social policy, program evaluation and family economic security, Hetling has been a faculty member at Rutgers since 2007 and has been the associate director of the Heldrich Center since 2022. Previously an assistant professor at the University of Connecticut from 2005 to 2007, Hetling joined Rutgers as an assistant professor in 2007. She was promoted to associate professor in 2014 and became a full professor in 2021.
Hetling also was the director of the public policy program at the Bloustein School from 2017 to 2021. She received a bachelor's degree in political science from Columbia University, a master's degree in international affairs from Columbia University and a doctoral degree in policy studies from the University of Maryland.
In addition to her work at the Heldrich Center, Hetling is an associate editor of the journal Social Policy & Administration and serves as a member of the policy council of the Association of Public Policy Analysis and Management.
“As associate director of the center, Andrea has played a critical role in advancing the Heldrich Center's mission and strengthening its research portfolio,” said Stuart Shapiro, dean of the Bloustein School. “She is an accomplished scholar, a respected leader, and a dedicated mentor. I am confident that under her leadership, the Heldrich Center will build upon Dr. Van Horn’s extraordinary leadership and continue to produce rigorous research and innovative policy solutions that improve the lives of New Jersey residents and workers across the nation.”
“It is an honor to be selected as the next director of the Heldrich Center,” Hetling said. “For nearly three decades, under Carl Van Horn’s leadership, the center earned a national reputation for conducting research that informs policy and improves the lives of workers and their families. I look forward to collaborating with our outstanding staff, faculty, students and partners to build on that legacy and address the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.”
“When we established the Heldrich Center, our goal was to create a research institution that would bridge the worlds of scholarship, policy and practice,” Van Horn said. “Andrea has been an invaluable colleague and partner, and she brings the intellectual leadership, vision, and commitment to public service necessary to guide the center into its next chapter. I am delighted to see her assume this role and look forward to supporting her and to the center's continued success.”
As the founding director of the Heldrich Center, Van Horn became a nationally recognized source of research and policy analysis on workforce and labor market issues, producing influential studies on unemployment, skills development, workforce training and the future of work. He has been named director emeritus.
Since its founding more than 25 years ago, the Heldrich Center has conducted research and service projects supported by more than $150 million of external funding from a wide range of government agencies and foundations. Its impact is strengthened by an appropriation from New Jersey’s state government that supports the building that houses the center’s faculty and research staff.
