Roberta Rubel Schaefer was the founder and president of the Worcester Regional Research Bureau for almost 30 years. In that capacity, she researched, wrote, and edited about 200 studies and organized about the same number of forums on public policy issues of concern to the city of Worcester and the Central Massachusetts region. She was a member of the Massachusetts Board of Education for 11 years during the implementation of the Massachusetts Education Reform Act of 1993.
Prior to heading The Research Bureau, Roberta was a Visiting Assistant Professor at Temple, Rutgers, Clark and Assumption Universities. She was also active in and served on the boards of several local community organizations including the Solomon Schechter Day School of Worcester, the Greater Worcester Community Foundation, the Jewish Healthcare Center, and Congregation Beth Israel of Worcester.
Roberta hails from Brooklyn, graduated from the NYC public schools, and received a BA, cum laude from Queens College of CUNY. She earned her MA and PhD in political science from the University of Chicago. She’s married to David Schaefer, Professor Emeritus in Political Science at Holy Cross College. They have two daughters and six grandchildren and reside in a suburb of New York City.
