Congratulations to Michele Boldrin

Dean Edward S. Macias announced that Michele Boldrin has been named the Joseph Gibson Hoyt Distinguished Professor of Economics in Arts & Sciences. A formal installation ceremony will be held during the 2007-08 academic year.

Professor Boldrin’s most recent research is a collaboration with David K. Levine, John H. Biggs Distinguished Professor of Economics in Arts & Sciences, focusing on economic growth, innovation, and public policy, with particular attention to issues of intellectual property and endogenous fluctuations. A second line of investigation is concerned with intergenerational institutions, such as the family and the welfare state and their actual impact on economic growth and long-run demographics.

This year at Washington University, Professor Boldrin is teaching courses titled Innovation and Intellectual Property: Theory and Practice; and Growth Theories and Growth Models. His teaching profile includes offerings at both undergraduate and graduate levels, covering topics from growth and development to macroeconomics, from trade and development to public economics, and mathematical economics.

Professor Boldrin holds a Laurea degree from the University of Ca’ Foscari (Venice, Italy) and a PhD in economics from the University of Rochester (NY). He joined Washington University last fall, following a seven-year tenure at the University of Minnesota, where he also served as Director of Graduate Studies. Previously, he held faculty positions at the University of Chicago, University of California – Los Angeles, Northwestern University, and Universidad Carlos III (Madrid). He was an External Faculty member at the Santa Fe Institute from its inception in 1987 through 1997, serving as Director of the Economics Program from 1989-1990. Stanford University, University of Pennsylvania, Academia Sinica, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Chinese University of Hong Kong, University of Chicago, Universita’ Bocconi (Milano), Institute for Advanced Study at Wuhan University (China), Kyoto University, Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México, and Instituto Nacional de Matematica Pura e Aplicada (Rio de Janeiro) have all hosted Professor Boldrin in a visiting professor capacity.

Joseph Gibson Hoyt was Washington University’s first chancellor, from the creation of the office in 1858 through 1862, when the first students graduated in June. His charge upon accepting the position was to develop the college. Hoyt believed that of all elements of the University, “the first and most important is the College, which should give students a strong foundation in the liberal arts.” His leadership defined curricular requirements for degrees, created professorships in several areas, and expanded the physical plant. Prior to the chancellorship at Washington University, Hoyt earned distinction as professor of mathematics and natural philosophy at Philips Exeter Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire.