K-School Recruits Four New Profs.

Four new scholars have been appointed to the senior faculty of the Kennedy School, Dean Joseph S. Nye announced on Commencement Day.

Coupled with the six faculty members already appointed this year, these new professors contribute to what many scholars call a wholesale revitalization of the Kennedy School.

Jane Mansbridge, a political scientist from Northwestern University, and Dani Rodrik '79, an economist and international affairs expert from Columbia University, will join the faculty this fall. David M. Romer and Christina D. Romer, two economists from the University of California at Berkeley, will come to Cambridge in the fall of 1997.

The new professors said they see a new energy in the Kennedy School, which makes it a far more exciting place than in previous years.

Rodrik said he has been affiliated with the Kennedy School in the past and is fairly familiar with it. During his years at Columbia, he said, the school has been rejuvenated in a number of ways which make it far more desirable to him, leading to his decision to accept Harvard's offer.

"The international concerns of the school have become better institutionalized and the composition of faculty has become younger, more attuned to the research and academic needs of the school alongside the professional dimension," he said.

Rodrik said he will teach one course on economic reforms in the fall and one on international economic policy in the spring.

He said he will continue his research on economic reform in developing and transitional economics and the consequences of globalization.

Rodrik has done research in parts of the globe ranging from East Asia to the Middle East to Eastern Europe and said he will continue work on a book he is writing, tentatively titled Has International Economic Integration Gone Too Far?

Mansbridge is an expert on public policy and the practice of democracy and is currently working on research concerning political equality.

Much of her work has also concerned gender theory. For example, she has studied the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) and how gender affects democratic interaction within groups.

According to Jonathan D. Casper, the chair of Northwestern's Political Science department, Mansbridge was a prominent and active member of the Northwestern community who was greatly respected by students and faculty alike.

He said she is a first-rate professor who was a popular choice among graduate students as a dissertation advisor.

"Her departure was a great loss for Northwestern," Casper said. "She was a central figure in the department and a very important figure on campus, active with the Organization of Women Faculty and a significant player in campus affairs."

The Kennedy School announced earlier this semester that Mansbridge's husband, Christopher Jencks, will join the faculty in the fall.

The Romers also form a husband-wife team, working in macroeconomics and economic history. Both professors said they found the Kennedy School's renewed emphasis on macroeconomics heartening and look forward to helping to strengthen that area of study at the school.

Both David and Romer said the Kennedy School's emphasis on applied policy will be a welcome balance to the academic side of economics.

According to Christina Romer, the advantage of teaching at the Kennedy School is that those who learn economics there are likely to become political decision-makers in the future.

"People we teach at the Kennedy School are likely to matter," she said.

The Romers' conviction that it is important to have public policy makers who are well-versed in economics ties in with their current research.

Christina Romer said the pair is currently working on a historical work examining instances when economic difficulty has stemmed from a misunderstanding by politicians of the information and theory available to them.

"There are a lot of examples where countries make serious mistakes because the people in charge don't know enough economics," David Romer said.

David Romer said he has discussed teaching courses on macroeconomics for students not specializing in economics. Christina Romer said she has discussed teaching an introductory-level economics course for graduate students throughout the University.

Critical Mass

Many scholars who have been recruited by the Kennedy School this year said they believe the school is reaching a "critical mass" of public policy scholars, making it increasingly attractive to them.

Rodrik said that over the last few years, the Kennedy School has used recruitment of top scholars to broaden its focus and put itself on the map as the premier institution for public policy both in the United States and the world.

"The fact that so many high quality offers have gone out at same time has made it more attractive for people to come in expectation that a lot of like-minded people would be joining the faculty," Rodrik said.

Christina Romer said she has seen a big change in economic scholarship at the Kennedy School, particularly that a great many younger economists have been joining the faculty.

"A lot of the people we heard are coming are people we admire a lot," she said. "It makes the Kennedy School seem like an exciting place.

He said she is a first-rate professor who was a popular choice among graduate students as a dissertation advisor.

"Her departure was a great loss for Northwestern," Casper said. "She was a central figure in the department and a very important figure on campus, active with the Organization of Women Faculty and a significant player in campus affairs."

The Kennedy School announced earlier this semester that Mansbridge's husband, Christopher Jencks, will join the faculty in the fall.

The Romers also form a husband-wife team, working in macroeconomics and economic history. Both professors said they found the Kennedy School's renewed emphasis on macroeconomics heartening and look forward to helping to strengthen that area of study at the school.

Both David and Romer said the Kennedy School's emphasis on applied policy will be a welcome balance to the academic side of economics.

According to Christina Romer, the advantage of teaching at the Kennedy School is that those who learn economics there are likely to become political decision-makers in the future.

"People we teach at the Kennedy School are likely to matter," she said.

The Romers' conviction that it is important to have public policy makers who are well-versed in economics ties in with their current research.

Christina Romer said the pair is currently working on a historical work examining instances when economic difficulty has stemmed from a misunderstanding by politicians of the information and theory available to them.

"There are a lot of examples where countries make serious mistakes because the people in charge don't know enough economics," David Romer said.

David Romer said he has discussed teaching courses on macroeconomics for students not specializing in economics. Christina Romer said she has discussed teaching an introductory-level economics course for graduate students throughout the University.

Critical Mass

Many scholars who have been recruited by the Kennedy School this year said they believe the school is reaching a "critical mass" of public policy scholars, making it increasingly attractive to them.

Rodrik said that over the last few years, the Kennedy School has used recruitment of top scholars to broaden its focus and put itself on the map as the premier institution for public policy both in the United States and the world.

"The fact that so many high quality offers have gone out at same time has made it more attractive for people to come in expectation that a lot of like-minded people would be joining the faculty," Rodrik said.

Christina Romer said she has seen a big change in economic scholarship at the Kennedy School, particularly that a great many younger economists have been joining the faculty.

"A lot of the people we heard are coming are people we admire a lot," she said. "It makes the Kennedy School seem like an exciting place.