An economist, Levenstein first joined ISR's Survey Research Center (SRC) in 2003 as the executive director of the Michigan Census Research Data Center (MCRDC), a joint project with the U.S. Census Bureau. She has taken an active role at ISR, joining the Director's Advisory Committee on Diversity in 2009 and serving as the chair of ISR's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion strategic planning committee and as the liaison to the larger university program.

Additionally, Levenstein is associate chair of the American Economic Association's Committee on the Status of Women in the Economics Profession and past president of the Business History Conference.

Levenstein received a Ph.D. in economics from Yale University and a B.A. from Barnard College, Columbia University. Her research and teaching interests include industrial organization, competition policy, business history, data confidentiality protection, and the improvement of economic statistics.