Becker Friedman Institute for Economics Leadership Update

To: BFI Affiliates and Senior Administrators

From: Katherine Baicker, Provost

Subject: Becker Friedman Institute for Economics Leadership Update 

Date: January 5, 2024

 

I write to share that Michael Greenstone, the Milton Friedman Distinguished Service Professor in Economics and the College, and director of the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago, who was recently appointed the inaugural director of the University’s new Climate and Energy Institute, has stepped away from his role as director of the Becker Friedman Institute for Economics. Erik Hurst, Frank P. and Marianne R. Diassi Distinguished Service Professor of Economics and John E. Jeuck Faculty Fellow, who until now was deputy director of BFI, has been appointed director, effective immediately.

 

Erik’s work lies at the intersection of macroeconomics, labor economics, and urban economics. His research has addressed topics such as declining male participation rates, the determinants of U.S. wage growth, the welfare losses to society stemming from gender and racial discrimination, and the causes and consequences of urban gentrification. Erik also studies the economics of time use, small business dynamics, life-cycle consumption profiles, the role of housing and mortgage markets in driving macroeconomic conditions, and the choice to invest in human capital. His research has been extensively covered in the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and Economist.

 

Erik is a recipient of the TIAA-CREF Paul A. Samuelson Award for Outstanding Scholarly Writing on Lifelong Financial Security and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Prize Medal for Distinguished Research in Entrepreneurship, among other awards. He is a member of the Economic Fluctuations Group, Aging Group, and Public Economics Group at the National Bureau of Economic Research and is co-editor of the NBER Macro-Annual and the Journal of Economic Perspectives.

 

A member of the Chicago Booth faculty since 1999, Erik holds a PhD and MA in economics from the University of Michigan and a BS in economics and finance from Clarkson University.

 

I am confident that under Erik’s leadership, BFI will continue its long-standing leadership in producing world-class research and ideas to help address the world’s most pressing economic challenges. Please join me in congratulating Erik on his new role and thanking Michael for his many significant contributions to BFI.