John Friedman, a professor of economics and international and public affairs, has been named the inaugural dean of the Watson School of International and Public Affairs, according to a Monday afternoon email from President Christina Paxson P’19 P’MD’20 and Provost Francis Doyle.
Friedman, who has been at Brown since 2015, previously worked as the chair of the Department of Economics. He will help the new school in “advancing research and teaching on pressing economic, political, social and policy issues,” according to the email.
The new school will be launched July 1. The decision to convert the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs to a separate school was approved by the Brown Corporation — the University’s highest governing body — last spring.
During his time at Brown, Friedman helped develop a summer research program for undergraduates and also expanded the master’s of public affairs program to include a summer term. When he was chair, Friedman oversaw a 30% growth in tenured faculty in the economics department, according to the email.
Friedman completed his undergraduate degree at Harvard, where he also earned his master’s and PhD. After completing a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California at Berkeley, Friedman found himself back on the East Coast as an assistant professor of public policy at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.
From 2013 to 2014, during former President Barack Obama’s second term, Friedman worked as the special assistant to the president for economic policy at the White House. His research covers a variety of topics, ranging from the economic impacts of COVID-19 to tax policy and education.
“John brings both the expertise and energy to guide Brown’s new school as it conducts timely research and provides its graduates with deep knowledge of policy and highly developed analytical skills that will enable them to serve their communities, the nation and the world,” Paxson and Doyle wrote in the email. “We look forward to working with him in his new role as dean.”
Claire Song is a university news and science & research editor for The Herald. She is a sophomore from California studying Applied Math-Biology. She likes to drink boba in her free time.
