Letter from the Chair
Alumni and Friends of the Department of Economics,
Northwestern has just completed the fall quarter, and we in the Department look forward to an exciting winter and spring. As many of you know, this is the time of year when we actively recruit both new faculty and the next cohort of Ph.D. students.
We have a search at the senior level in applied microeconomics. We are conducting an open field search at the assistant professor level, as we have in most years, as well as for a teaching track faculty position. The hires that result from these searches will help keep the department at the cutting edge of research in economics.
At the same time, we continue to train many of the leaders in the next generation of economists. With the tireless support of our director of graduate placement, Alessandro Pavan, we have 17 Ph.D. students who are actively engaged in the job market, participating in virtual interviews and in person fly outs to some of the world's top universities, government agencies, and firms. But even as we prepare to say goodbye to these students, our directors of graduate admissions, Igal Hendel and Marciano Siniscalchi, are sorting through hundreds of applications from prospective new Ph.D. students. The applicants are drawn from top universities around the world. By April 15th, all the decisions will have been made and we will prepare to welcome the incoming class of 2025.
Several of our faculty members and former students have received honors and recognition. Mar Reguant was elected as Fellow of the Econometric Society. Bob Gordon was awarded an honorary doctorate from Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne University. Bo Jackson finished his term as a member of the Council of Economic Advisors and returned to campus this October. The department voted this fall to promote Matt Rognlie to associate professor, and to grant him tenure.
Laura Doval (Ph.D. 2016) was awarded a Sloan Fellowship. Laura also received two prizes from the Econometric Society, one for the best paper in Theoretical Economics and the Arrow Prize for the best economic theory paper in Econometrica.
The 2024 Nemmers Prize in Economics was awarded to Michael Woodford of Columbia University. He was recognized for his achievements in “advancing the New Keynesian approach to understanding economic fluctuations in general equilibrium, bridging the theory and the practice of monetary policy, and incorporating bounded rationality in macroeconomics.” The department will host a conference in Mike’s honor in the 2025-26 academic year.
When you next visit campus, please drop by the Economics Department and see for yourself the vibrancy and excitement that our community continues to generate. Until then, please accept the best wishes of the Department of Economics. Happy New Year!