Jen Benoit-Bryan, Ph.D. is the Director of SMU DataArts, a leading research center for arts and culture. Jen assumed the director role in 2024 after serving as the organization’s research director. During her time at SMU DataArts, she’s worked on wide-ranging multi-year projects including an NEA-funded exploration of the role of workforce inclusion with the Los Angeles Department of Cultural affairs, the Museums Moving Forward research on equity and organizational culture within art museums, and a project in the state of Washington connecting the provision of arts and culture within a neighborhood with that community’s health, economic, and social cohesion outcomes. As an expert in statistical social research in the arts, she serves on advisory boards and grant review panels for the NEA and IMLS.