Lisa M. Lynch reappointed dean of Heller School

Renowned scholar on employment issues led creation Heller strategic plan

Photo/Mike Lovett

Dean Lisa Lynch

Lisa M. Lynch, former chief economist for the U.S. Department of Labor and an internationally recognized scholar on employment issues, has been appointed to a second five-year term as dean and Maurice B. Hexter Professor of Economic and Social Policy at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management.

Lynch has previously served on the faculty of Tufts University, MIT, Ohio State University and the University of Bristol. She has published extensively on issues such as the impact of technological change and organizational innovation (especially training) on productivity and wages, the determinants of youth unemployment and the school-to-work transition.

The reappointment comes after input from the Faculty Senate, and feedback from faculty, researchers and senior staff, the Heller School’s Board of Overseers and external reviewers. Lynch received glowing recommendations from all constituencies.

Lynch, who has a bachelor’s degree in economics and political science from Wellesley College and a master of science and doctoral degree from the London School of Economics, has increased graduate student financial support and fostered greater interaction between faculty, research staff and students. 

She also led the creation of the school’s new strategic plan, which includes a diversity enhancement initiative to develop programs, policies and procedures that will permanently embed equity, inclusion and diversity into the fabric of Heller's academic and work environment.

Heller has seen a significant increase in graduate enrollment, including dual degree programs across the university, and Lynch has led the effort during this growth period to ensure a quality student experience from recruitment and enrollment through graduation and alumni engagement.

Her efforts to raise the school’s public profile led to the re-establishment of Heller School’s ranking as one of the top ten schools of social policy in the nation by US News and World Report.

Lynch is currently a member of the Governor's Council of Economic Advisors for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, a member of the National Academies Committee on National Statistics and in June 2013 will become president of the Labor and Employment Relations Association. From 1995-1997 she was the chief economist at the U.S. Department of Labor and from 2004-2009 she served as a director and then chair of the board of directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. She is a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, the Economic Policy Institute and IZA in Bonn, Germany.

Categories: Business, General, Humanities and Social Sciences

Return to the BrandeisNOW homepage