Dr. Cahill is nationally recognized for his work in the areas of evaluation and research methodology; outcomes and performance-based research; the design, implementation and analysis of large-scale mail and telephone surveys; database and decision support system development; and applied statistical analysis. He serves on numerous boards and commissions in the field of disability, including serving as Chair of the New Mexico Governor’s Commission on Disability.

Before moving to New Mexico in 1997, he was Associate Professor of Public Policy at the Edmund S. Muskie School of Public Service at the University of Southern Maine and Director of Research and Technology for the School’s Institute for Public Sector Innovation; Director of Graduate Programs in Public Administration at the University of Maine; and a member of the faculty of the Department of Public Administration at Penn State University.

He received his bachelor's degree from the State University of New York at Albany, his master's degrees from Colgate University and the University of Pittsburgh for his doctorate.