The Susan Bies Lecture on Economics and Public Policy was launched in 2008 in honor of Northwestern alumna Susan Schmidt Bies. Bies, who earned her doctorate in economics from Northwestern University in 1972, served in various capacities during a long career, including on the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System from 2001 until 2007. The lecture alternates between microeconomic and macroeconomic topics.
From left: Michael Kremer, Christopher Udry, and Lori Beaman.
On April 6, 2026, the Department of Economics hosted Michael Kremer, 2019 Nobel Laureate in Economics and University Professor in Economics at the University of Chicago, as the speaker for the annual Susan Bies Lecture on Economics and Public Policy. 
About the Bies Lectures: