James Yonker

James Yonker serves as the director of the Office of Strategic Diversity Planning and Research for the Division of Diversity, Equity & Educational Achievement, where he leads data analytics and equity, diversity and inclusion research for the division, as well as university-wide diversity projects.

Yonker is a scholar of health and well-being, with his current work focusing on how to measure and improve the social climate in higher education. He is an expert in survey research, methodology and statistical analysis and has published in a variety of disciplines, including demography and population studies, sociology, public health, medicine and social work. Yonker is also an active collaborator with and research affiliate of the UW Survey Center (UWSC).

Before joining DDEEA in 2017, Yonker worked in research and analytics positions at UW–Madison and the Middleton Veteran’s Hospital. He earned his Ph.D. in sociology (demography), Master of Public Health (M.P.H.), and bachelor’s degrees in psychology, sociology (concentration in analysis and research) and statistics from UW–Madison.