More Than 25 Years of the American Journal of Evaluation

Abstract

This article explores the important role that past editors of the American Journal of Evaluation and its predecessors, Evaluation Practice and Evaluation News, played in the development of the American Evaluation Association (AEA). In interviews presented here, the editors recount the history of the association, the journal, and the field as they experienced it. Using a variety of sources, the author provides additional context for their remarks, describing the pioneering efforts of early evaluation associations, the contentious mergers that resulted in a single national association, the emergence of dedicated evaluation publications, and the challenges posed by an increasingly diverse membership. The author concludes by discussing the ways in which the editors, throughout their 35 years of service, strengthened not only professional associations but the larger field of evaluation.