Margaret C. Simms is a nonresident fellow at the Urban Institute in Washington, D.C. Until March 2017, she directed the Low-Income Working Families project at Urban. Prior to joining the Urban Institute in July 2007, she was vice president for governance and economic Analysis at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies. She began working at the Joint Center in 1986 as deputy director of research and held positions of increasing responsibility during her 20-year tenure. From May 1 through December 31, 2006, she served as interim president. Prior to joining the staff of the Joint Center, she was a program director at the Urban Institute. She began her career in academia with appointments at the University of California at Santa Cruz and at Atlanta University. A nationally recognized expert on the economic well-being of African Americans, her current work focuses on low-income families, with an emphasis on self-sufficiency and asset building.

She served as editor of the Review of Black Political Economy from 1983-1988 and co-editor from 2017 to February 2021. She has held officer or committee positions with the American Economic Association, the National Economic Association, the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM), and the National Academy of Social Insurance. In 2005, she was elected to membership in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 2008, the National Economic Association presented her with the Samuel Z. Westerfield Award. She was elected to membership in the National Academy of Public Administration in 2019. Carleton College (Minnesota) awarded her an honorary doctor of laws degree in 2010.

Dr. Simms holds a B.A. in economics from Carleton College (Minnesota) and a Ph.D. in economics from Stanford University.