About
Cecilia Elena Rouse is the Katzman-Ernst Professor in Economics and Education at Princeton University, holding dual appointments in the Department of Economics and the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. She currently serves as President of the Brookings Institution and previously chaired the White House Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) during the Biden-Harris Administration. As the first Black American to lead the CEA, she has held three White House roles across presidential administrations. She formerly served as Dean of the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs (2002–2020).
Her research focuses on the economics of education, labor markets, and public policy. She founded the Princeton Education Research Section and has held editorial roles at journals like the Journal of Labor Economics and American Economic Journal: Economic Policy. She is a member of the National Academy of Education and the American Philosophical Society.
Rouse earned her Ph.D. and undergraduate degree in economics from Harvard University. Her career includes service on boards of the Council on Foreign Relations, National Bureau of Economic Research, and T. Rowe Price Funds. She has advised policymakers at the highest levels, including stints in the Clinton and Obama administrations.
