Department of Economics
November 6, 2014

Applied Math-Economics alumna Karen Dynan nominated to be assistant secretary for economic policy

Announcements

President Obama  nominated Karen Dynan ’85 to be assistant secretary for economic policy at the U.S. Treasury Department. Dynan, who has a PhD in economics from Harvard, will leave the Brookings Institution, a Washington, D.C., think tank, where she has most recently been the vice president and codirector of its economic studies program. Her focus has been primarily on consumer spending and saving behavior, household debt, and foreclosure prevention. 

Karen Dynan Dynan, whose appointment re-quires Senate confirmation, worked in the federal government from 2003 to 2004 as senior economist on the White House Council of Economic Advisers. Incoming treasury secretary Jack Lew said that Dynan “is a world-class economist” who “shares our commitment to strengthening the middle class.” If confirmed, she will advise the administration on a broad range of economic matters, from labor and housing to job creation.