DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS

150 Years of Women

Northwestern is celebrating 150 Years of Women.  Economics is commemorating this milestone by recognizing our alumnae, students and faculty.  Interested in participating?  Share your story or nominate someone.

	stacey tevlin '90 Stacey was named Director of the Division of Research and Statistics of the Federal Reserve Board in January 2019.  As the head economist at the Fed, she oversees analysis, forecasting, and research related to the domestic economy and financial markets.  She is responsible for briefing central bank policy makers on the U.S. economic outlook.
	Susan Bies PhD '72 Susan made a generous donation to the department in 2008 to establish the annual Susan Bies Lecture on Economics and Public Policy.  Past speakers include Thomas Piketty, Claudia Goldin and Ben Bernanke. Susan was a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System from 2001-2007.  During her time at the Board, she was chairwoman of the Committee on Supervisory and Regulatory Affairs, chairwoman of the Committee on Consumer and Community Affairs, and a member of the Committee on Reserve Bank Affairs.
	Nandi mehta '16 Nandi majored in economics and international studies and was co-captain of Northwestern’s soccer team.  She was awarded the NCAA’s Walter Byers Graduate Scholarship in 2017.  Nandi is currently a first-year dual MD/MPA student at Alpert Medical School of Brown University and expects to graduate in May 2023.
	bridgette proctor heller '83, MBA '85 Bridgette was awarded the 2019 Northwestern Alumni Medal, the highest honor given by the Northwestern Alumni Association.  She majored in economics and computer studies and has more than 30 years of experience as a senior executive with Fortune 500 companies.  She is co-founder and CEO of The Shirley Proctor Puller Foundation, an organization dedicated to advancing literacy and closing the achievement gap for children in St. Petersburg, FL.
	associate professor mar reguant Mar discusses how machine learning can predict energy efficiency. Watch the video.
	UNA osili PhD '99 Una is Professor of Economics and Associate Dean for Research and International Programs at Indiana University's Lilly Family School of Philanthropy.  A global expert on economic and financial development, philanthropy and social innovation, Una leads the Global Resource Flows Index and the Global Philanthropy Environment Index. The Global Philanthropy Indices are the leading source of global development and social innovation data trends and involve collaboration with regional experts in 79 countries.  She also heads Lilly's signature research project, the Philanthropy Panel Study (PPS). PPS is the most comprehensive study of the generosity of American families over time.
	associate professor lori beaman '99 Lori, a faculty member in the department and a BA alumnae, is a development economist who studies the role of social networks in the labor market, agricultural technology adoption and constraints on women's participation in the economy and in politics.  She is an Institute for Policy Research (IPR) Fellow, member of the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), a junior fellow of the Bureau for Research in Economic Analysis and Development (BREAD), and an associate editor of the Journal of Development Economics.
	Professor Seema Jayachandran Seema, professor and IPR Fellow, researches issues in developing countries, including environmental conservation, gender equality, labor markets, health, and education.  She is co-editor of the American Economic Journal and associate editor of the Quarterly Journal of Economics.  She regularly writes for the New York Times as a contributor to the Economic View column.
	Mithra Warrier '02 After graduation, Mithra started in the sales and trading program at Lehman Brothers, which began her career in finance. She now runs the hedge fund sales team for TD Prime Services, a division of TD Bank.  Mithra says, "Northwestern’s economics curriculum was engaging, and the professors always made it a point to emphasize the practical perspectives. The diversity of students in my economics classes, as well as the curriculum that focused on the intersection of economics with various disciplines such as history and science, prepares me well for success in my career. I still apply many of the lessons I learned at Northwestern - and I still keep my old TI Graphing Calculator on my desk at work!"
	FRANCESCA MOLINARI Phd '03 Francesca is the H. T. Warshow and Robert Irving Warshow Professor in the Department of Economics at Cornell University.  Her research interests are in econometrics, both theoretical and applied. Her theoretical work is concerned with the study of identification problems, and with proposing new methods for statistical inference in partially identified models. Her applied work has focused primarily on the analysis of decision making under risk and uncertainty. She has worked on estimation of risk preferences using market level data, and on the analysis of individuals' probabilistic expectations using survey data. Francesca is currently serving as Joint Managing Editor at the Review of Economic Studies.
	Michaelle Driggs Van Linden '78 Michaelle was a student when the department had several high profile professors teaching: Joel Mokyr, Ron Braeutigam, Johnathan Hughes and Marcus Alexis to name a few. Because the rigorous program tended to weed out those less inclined to do well early on, being one of a handful of women in the program didn't seem to be an issue. If you made it through beginning macro and micro and still majored in econ, you were valued as equal to your male peers. She was President of the Econ Council her junior year and had the privilege of working with the dean on several areas important to the students. After graduation, Michaelle worked in transportation for several years as staff economist for a trucking company and several railroads. Her interest was sparked by taking a class in transportation economics from Marcus Alexis who became an ICC commissioner and chair. Upon receiving her MBA about 8 years after graduating, she worked in business intelligence and market research where her deep quantitative foundation in economics was utilized on a daily basis and helped her make sense of the complex issues in the pharmaceutical and medical supplies and devices industries.