Congratulations Betsey!

I can’t tell whether I’m writing this as a very proud significant-other, a jealous co-author, or a pleased colleague, but whatever it is, I can’t resist passing on some good news:?Betsey Stevenson recently learned that the?Labor and Employment Relations Association is awarding her the?John Dunlop Scholar Award, typically awarded to a labor economist in the first decade of their careers.? The award is “to recognize outstanding academic contributions to research by recent entrants to the field.”? It’s a very flattering acknowledgment, and she’s following in the footsteps of?Jon Guryan,?Alex Mas,?Nick Bloom,?David Lee,?Marianne Bertrand,?Armin Falk and?David Autor, among other labor luminaries.
The prize has a few special connections for Betsey, too.? The?late, great John Dunlop was a former Secretary of Labor – a true scholar who moved easily between the ivory tower and the policy world.? And Betsey is?currently serving as?Chief Economist to the current Labor Secretary.? Dunlop was also the founding intellectual force behind the Harvard labor group – and both Betsey and I are products of that group.? In fact, Betsey and I first met in the?Harvard Labor seminar.? Yes, it’s not just a forge in which economic ideas are hammered out, it’s a romantic place, too.? Dunlop was still a force on campus when we were graduate students, although his mantle as the leader of the labor group had been assumed by Larry Katz.? And it’s surely no coincidence that Larry has now trained at least three winners of this prize-David Autor, Marianne Bertrand and now Betsey.? Given the caliber of Larry’s recent students, I suspect we’ll see a few more in coming years.