January 13, 2022

To: Members of the American Economic Association
From: Peter L. Rousseau, Secretary-Treasurer
Subject: AEA Member Announcements and Annual Meeting Highlights

The American Economic Association is proud to announce the winners of the 2021 AEA Awards for Diversity and Inclusion. The awards were presented on January 8, 2022, at the virtual AEA Awards Ceremony during the ASSA Annual Meeting.

The Department of Economics at Virginia Tech is the winner of the 2021 AEA Award for Outstanding Achievement in Diversity and Inclusion. This award recognizes departments and organizations demonstrating outstanding achievement in diversity and inclusion practices. The steps taken by the Economics Department at Virginia Tech, as outlined in their application that can be read here, include substantial changes in programs and practices that align with the AEA's Best Practices for Economists Building a More Diverse, Inclusive, and Productive Profession and that aim to create a more diverse and inclusive environment for faculty and students. The department's Initiatives for Diversity & Inclusion are wide reaching and involve the principles curriculum, new courses on race, gender, and diversity and inclusion, graduate student training, a new postdoc position, faculty recruiting, and public outreach.

AEA Departmental Seed Grants for Innovation in Diversity and Inclusion were awarded to two institutions in 2021: The University of Kansas and Middlebury College. Each department received $5,000 for their efforts.  The grant recipients recognize the need to offer both mentoring and research experience to help URM students be more competitive to enter doctoral programs. 

The University of Kansas will also receive partial funding from the institution’s endowment to prepare undergraduates from underrepresented minorities for graduate study in economics.  The program will identify URM students for completing an accelerated 4+1 program leading to joint BA/MA degrees in economics. Participants will receive upper-division tutoring, workshop opportunities, and both faculty and peer mentoring. Faculty members in economics who identify as underrepresented minorities and/or women will serve as mentors, while graduate students in economics will serve as tutors. 

Middlebury College will build a Fellows Program targeting first and second year URM students. A total of 10 students will be enrolled and paired with faculty mentors to learn about the literature and acquire related data skills. The students will attend workshops and engage in research, with a symposium at the program’s conclusion where students and faculty mentors will present their joint work.

The Andrew Brimmer Undergraduate Essay Prize winner for 2021 is Christopher Walker from Miami University. His essay “Analysis on Black American Wealth” examines the impacts of inter-generational transfers on wealth accumulation and economic inequality. The Association recognizes Mr. Walker for his achievement with a $1,000 prize.

The Professional Development Grant for URM Economists winner is Michelle Phillips from the University of Florida. Her essay "My Research and How it Relates to Economic Education" is an example of how strides in economic pedagogy propel the profession forward. The AEA is proud to partner with Pearson Education on this important initiative.

Please join the AEA in congratulating all of these winners for their time and effort invested in addressing and promoting diversity and inclusion within the economics profession. To view the 2022 AEA Awards ceremony in its entirety, visit AEA 2022 Awards Ceremony. For more information on these awards and others, visit https://www.aeaweb.org/about-aea/committees/csmgep/diversity-initiatives.

AEA Editor Transitions. The AEA Executive Committee is pleased to announce the appointment of Erzo F. P. Luttmer of Dartmouth College as the new lead editor for the American Economic Review beginning in January 2023, and David H. Romer of University of California, Berkeley as the new lead editor for the Journal of Economic Literature beginning July 2022. Both new editors were appointed after extensive searches that included input from the membership. The Association thanks outgoing Editors Esther Duflo and Steven Durlauf for their outstanding efforts devoted to making the journals included among the most respected scholarly journals in economics.

Nearly 9,000 people registered for the 2022 virtual ASSA meeting. The recorded sessions are available for viewing for registrants until March 1. Take advantage of missed sessions now or check out the poster sessions, many of which include an audio recording of a brief presentation.

Complimentary ASSA 2022 webcast sessions include:

• AEA Awards Ceremony (Christina Romer) and Presidential Address (David Card)
• AEA Distinguished Lecture (Nathan F. Nunn)
• AEA Nobel Laureate Address honoring the 2020 Nobel Laureates in Economics: Paul R. Milgrom and Robert B. Wilson (Christina Romer presiding and featuring Susan Athey, Srihari Govindan, Bengt Holmstrom, and Alvin Roth)
• Panel Session: U.S. Climate Policy: What Is Needed to Reach the Paris Goals (Moderator: Catherine Rampell)
• Panel Session: U.S. Inflation: Outlook and Policy Response (Moderator: Joshua K. Hausman)
• Panel Session: U. S. Monetary Policy for 2022 (Moderator: David H. Romer)
• Paper Session: Equity and Efficiency in Unemployment Insurance (Chair: Michael W. Horrigan)
• Paper Session: Residential and K-12 School Segregation and Educational Inequality (Chair: Josh Angrist)
• Paper Session: Wealth (Chair: Stefanie Stantcheva)

To view these recordings and more, visit https://www.aeaweb.org/conference/webcasts/2022/. Webcasts from 2009 through 2022 are available to the public.

Check out the programs, services, resources, and committees of the AEA in this AEA Spotlight brochure. To stay informed, follow the AEA twitter account @AEAInformation which is used to share information throughout the year. Content related to AEA publications will continue to be posted @AEAjournals.