Long was born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1973. She spent most of her childhood in Columbus, Ohio, but attended and completed high school in Naperville, Illinois, at Naperville North High School. She earned her A.B. in Economics with a Certificate in Afro-American Studies from Princeton University and her Ph.D. in Economics from Harvard University. She began teaching at Harvard in 2000. She was Faculty Director of the Ed.D. and Ph.D. programs from 2010 to 2013 and Academic Dean from 2013 to 2017. She was appointed Dean on July 1, 2018.
