Jeffrey R Brown

Jeffrey R. Brown is the Josef and Margot Lakonishok Professor of Business and Dean of the Gies College of Business at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He also serves as Director of the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) Retirement Research Center and previously led the Center for Business and Public Policy. His expertise spans macroeconomics, finance, and political economy, with a focus on retirement security, public insurance markets, and policy design.

Education: Brown holds a PhD in Economics from MIT (1999), an M.P.P. from Harvard (1995), and B.A. degrees in Economics and Political Science from Miami University (1990). He has held roles at the White House Council of Economic Advisers, the Social Security Advisory Board, and as a consultant to federal agencies and financial firms.

Research Interests: His work examines the intersection of public and private insurance markets, particularly retirement-related topics like annuities, pensions, Social Security, and long-term care. He explores behavioral economics barriers to optimal retirement planning and the impact of tax policies on savings behavior.

Publications: Brown’s recent work analyzes trends in retirement income strategies, political connections and firm value, and the effects of policy interventions on consumer decisions. His articles appear in leading journals such as the Review of Economics and Statistics and Journal of Financial Economics.

Awards: He has received prestigious honors including the Paul A. Samuelson Award and Lumina Award. His leadership roles include trustee positions at TIAA and advisory roles at the Brookings Institution’s Tax Policy Center.

Administration & Governance: As Dean, Brown oversees strategic initiatives and academic programs. He also chairs the TIAA Audit Committee and contributes to policy discussions through roles at the Center for Audit Quality and UI Singapore Research LLC.