Lynn Usher's career in human services began with employment as an income maintenance eligibility technician, his first job after college.  Although his graduate studies focused on public policy analysis and public administration (Ph.D., Political Science, Emory University), issues related to human services and public welfare continued to be at the center of his work.  After teaching in graduate programs in public administration at Miami University and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, he joined the staff of Research Triangle Institute (now RTI International) as a policy analyst, leading a number of evaluations of new federal programs, such as the 1981 Reagan welfare reforms, and research and demonstration projects sponsored by USDA and other federal agencies.  

In the mid-1980s, Professor Usher left RTI for a year to help establish Northeastern North Carolina Tomorrow, Inc., a citizen-based social and economic development organization in the poorest region of the state.  He returned in 1985 to direct the Center for Policy Studies, a position he held through 1992. He then joined the faculty of the School of Social Work where he teaches research methods applied to the evaluation of social interventions. 

Much of Professor Usher's work over the past fifteen years has involved evaluations of child welfare reform initiatives sponsored by the Annie E. Casey Foundation and other national foundations.  He also has directed evaluations of efforts to reform North Carolina's child welfare system.  Consistent with work earlier in his career, these projects have involved the use of administrative data to construct longitudinal databases describing the experiences of families and children who become involved with the child welfare system. 

An integral component of nearly every project led by Professor Usher has been an effort to build capacity for self-evaluation within the agencies and communities involved in those projects.  He currently serves as an adviser and consultant to foundations and public agencies attempting to enhance their ability and that of their community partners to evaluate their efforts to improve outcomes for families and children.