Biography
I am Professor of Economics at the University of Toronto, where I have been a faculty member since 1989. A labour economist by training, my research has spanned economic development, inequality and poverty, labour markets, the economics of higher education, and now personnel and defence economics.
Over the past decade, I have served in senior academic leadership roles outside the Department of Economics. Most recently, I completed a five-year term as Vice-Provost, Strategic Enrolment Management, following service as Vice-Dean, Graduate Education in the Faculty of Arts & Science. Earlier administrative roles included serving as Chair of the Department of Economics and as Associate Chair for both undergraduate and graduate studies.
These appointments were an educational experience in their own right. As an empirical economist, they provided access to rich institutional data and exposed me to some of the most important issues facing higher education, including student access and affordability, enrolment management, graduate education and outcomes, and institutional decision-making. Even more importantly, they allowed me to work closely with professional colleagues across the university and to learn first-hand how a large and complex institution functions and the kinds of decisions it must make to connect day-to-day operations with strategic objectives. They also strengthened my interest in institutional research and the possibilities afforded by administrative data for both policy and scholarly inquiry.
These experiences have shaped my current research interests. They led to collaborative work on the economics of higher education, including research on doctoral education and institutional financial aid. They also provided opportunities to work with colleagues across the higher education sector and, perhaps less obviously, with leaders in the Royal Canadian Navy and the Canadian Armed Forces more broadly. Together, these experiences have opened up new directions in my research and professional activities, linking higher education, labour markets, and military personnel systems.
My earlier research focused primarily on economic development, inequality, and poverty, particularly in low-income countries, together with a range of Canadian labour market issues. I received my PhD and MA in Economics from Princeton University (Industrial Relations Section) and my BSc in Economics from the University of Toronto.