Brigham Young University Academic Vice President Jim R. Rasband has announced that Brigitte C. Madrian has been named the ninth dean of the BYU Marriott School of Business.
Madrian is currently the Aetna Professor of Public Policy and Corporate Management and chair of the Markets, Business and Government Area in the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. She will join the school and begin her five-year term as dean on January 1, 2019.
“Dr. Madrian has a distinguished record of scholarship, teaching, and public service,” Rasband said. “She pairs her impressive record with wise judgment, deep roots at BYU, and a commitment to the Mission and Aims of the university. I am confident that she will lead the BYU Marriott School of Business with wisdom, energy, and vision.”
Madrian will replace current dean Lee T. Perry, who has been serving as dean since 2013. Under Perry’s leadership, experiential learning opportunities were implemented and expanded; financial support for the school’s Whitmore Global Management Center and MBA scholarships, among others, were increased; and the school’s undergraduate programs were strengthened by the implementation of seven new majors. Perry will return to the Department of Management as a strategy professor when his term is complete.
“I am grateful to Dean Perry for his dedicated service and outstanding leadership of the BYU Marriott School of Business,” Rasband said. “He has sacrificed much, not just during his deanship but throughout his career, to build the college. I admire his long record of setting aside his own passion for teaching and research to instead focus on providing opportunities for his colleagues and for our students. His committed service leaves behind a stronger college.”
Madrian received a PhD in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and master’s and bachelor’s degrees in economics from BYU. Before arriving at Harvard in 2006, she was on the faculty at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania (2003-2006), the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business (1995-2003) and the Harvard University Economics Department (1993-1995).
Madrian is an expert on behavioral economics and household finance, with a particular focus on household saving and investment behavior. Her work in this area has impacted the design of employer-sponsored savings plans in the U.S. and has influenced pension reform legislation both in the U.S. and abroad. Madrian also uses the lens of behavioral economics in her research to understand health behaviors and improve health outcomes.
As a result of her work, she has received the Retirement Income Industry Association Achievement in Applied Retirement Research Award (2015) and is a three-time recipient of the TIAA Paul A. Samuelson Award for Scholarly Research on Lifelong Financial Security (2002, 2011 and 2017).
Madrian is also currently serving as the co-director of the Household Finance working group at the National Bureau of Economic Research and is a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Board of Governors, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Academic Research Council, and numerous additional advisory boards.
The BYU Marriott School of Business prepares men and women of faith, character, and professional ability for positions of leadership throughout the world. Named for benefactors J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott, the school is located at Brigham Young University, the largest privately owned, church-sponsored university in the United States. BYU Marriott has four graduate and ten undergraduate programs with an enrollment of approximately 3,300 students.
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Writer: Jordan Christiansen