The Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at Weitzman welcomes former White House economist Heather Boushey as its newest professor of practice. Boushey will take a leadership role in defining new opportunities for economic policy to influence the energy transition.
Boushey recently served as a member of President Biden’s Council of Economic Advisers and chief economist for the White House’s Investing in America cabinet, where she was central in shaping and implementing the administration’s industrial policy agenda.
“We are delighted to have Heather join a community of scholars here who also care deeply about the energy transition,” says Weitzman Dean and Paley Professor Fritz Steiner.
“Heather brings a wealth of experience from the D.C. policymaking arena,” says Sanya Carley, the Mark Alan Hughes Faculty Director of the Kleinman Center. “And throughout her career she has demonstrated a commitment to a fair economy for all.”
Boushey co-founded the Washington Center for Equitable Growth, where she advanced research on how inequality affects economic performance. Early in her career, she was an economist for the Center for American Progress, Joint Economic Committee of the U.S. Congress, Center for Economic and Policy Research, and Economic Policy Institute.
In one of her books, Unbound: How Economic Inequality Constricts Our Economy and What We Can Do About It, Boushey argues that we do not have to choose between equality and prosperity. Through the data, she demonstrates that rising inequality has in fact deterred growth and is an impediment to a competitive U.S. marketplace. Boushey also co-edited After Piketty: The Agenda for Economics and Inequality, a volume of 22 essays about integrating inequality into economic thinking.
Boushey is widely respected as a leader in her industry. The New York Times called her one of the “most vibrant voices in the field,” and “at the forefront of a generation of economists rethinking their discipline,” and Politico has twice named her one of the top 50 “thinkers, doers and visionaries transforming American politics.”
“I’m looking forward to continuing my career here at the Kleinman Center—moving research and policy forward on topics essential to a sustainable energy transition, which itself, is a critical component of a healthy economy,” says Boushey, who received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Hampshire College and her PhD in economics from the New School for Social Research. She arrives at Penn following a senior fellowship at the Reimagining the Economy project at the Harvard Kennedy School.
With this appointment, the Kleinman Center counts a total of four professors dedicated to energy policy research and teaching.
Jennifer Wilcox, with an expertise in carbon management, was the first professor to join the Kleinman Center and holds a second appointment in the School of Engineering and Applied Science. Shelley Welton focuses on energy institutions and governance. She holds a second appointment at Penn Carey School of Law. Sanya Carley specializes in energy policy design and holds a second appointment in the Department of City and Regional Planning at the Stuart Weitzman School of Design. Carley is also the faculty director of the Kleinman Center.
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