Pew Hispanic Center Renamed Pew Research Center’s Hispanic Trends Project

Washington (Aug. 14, 2013) — The Pew Hispanic Center has been renamed “Pew Research Center’s Hispanic Trends Project.” It will be under the direction of Mark Hugo Lopez, who in July was named director of Hispanic research for the Pew Research Center.

The project, which was founded in 2001 as the Pew Hispanic Center, became a part of the Pew Research Center in 2004. While the new name more clearly reflects the project’s identity as part of the Pew Research Center, its core mission will remain the same: to improve public understanding of the diverse Hispanic population in the United States and to chronicle Latinos’ growing impact on the nation.

“Pew Research Center’s mission is to provide reliable, authoritative facts about the trends shaping America and the world, and our research about the diverse lives and attitudes of Hispanics in America has been – and will continue to be – a critically important piece of that mission,” said Pew Research Center President Alan Murray.

“I am thrilled that Mark Lopez will serve as the center’s Director of Hispanic Research,” said Pew Research Center executive vice president for special projects Paul Taylor, who oversees the center’s research on social and demographic trends. “His research on Latino political engagement and identity, and the diversity that exists within the Latino population, has enriched our public dialogue.”

Lopez has been a driving force in the center’s Hispanic research since 2008 when he joined Pew Hispanic Center as an associate director. In his new position, he will have overall responsibility for the various lines of research at the Pew Research Center related to the Hispanic community. Prior to joining the Pew Research Center, he was the research director of the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) as well as a research assistant professor at the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland. He received his doctorate in economics from Princeton University, and has served as a visiting professor at Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public & International Affairs.

“The nation’s growing Latino community is affecting everything from politics to the economy to education, and I’m excited about this important opportunity to provide nonpartisan, objective facts to and about this changing population,” Lopez said.

Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world. It does not take policy positions. Its Hispanic Trends Project conducts public opinion surveys that aim to illuminate Latino views on a range of social matters and public policy issues, including its annual National Survey of Latinos. It also publishes demographic studies and other social science research on a wide range of topics, including economics and personal finances, Hispanic/Latino identity, education, health care, immigration trends, the Latino vote, technology adoption, youth and work and employment.  The project is well-known for its estimates of the unauthorized immigrant population in the U.S.

As part of the name change, journalists are encouraged to attribute research conducted by the Hispanic Trends Project to “Pew Research Center.” In addition, all project staff email addresses now use the “@pewresearch.org” domain.

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