معرفی
Jens Ludwig is the Edwin A. and Betty L. Bergman Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy. He serves as Pritzker Director of the University of Chicago’s Crime Lab, codirector of the Education Lab, and codirector of the National Bureau of Economic Research’s working group on the economics of crime.
Ludwig received his BA in economics from Rutgers College and MA/PhD in economics from Duke University. Previously a professor at Georgetown University, he has been deeply embedded in academic public policy research for decades.
- BA in Economics, Rutgers College
- MA in Economics, Duke University
- PhD in Economics, Duke University
His research centers on applying behavioral science and data science to solve social problems, particularly in crime prevention and education reform. He pioneered evidence-based partnerships with government agencies to translate academic insights into real-world interventions, focusing on gun violence reduction, educational equity, and algorithmic policy design. His work emphasizes rigorous field experiments and causal inference methodologies.
Recent publications reveal a sharp interdisciplinary trajectory merging economics, machine learning, and public health. Key themes include behavioral economics of gun violence, algorithmic fairness in criminal justice, and large-scale educational interventions using AI-driven tutoring. His research increasingly leverages machine learning for causal inference while addressing ethical implications of algorithmic decision-making in social policy contexts.
Ludwig's scholarly recognition includes prestigious awards:
- David N. Kershaw Prize for Contributions to Public Policy by Age 40 (2006)
- Election to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies of Science (2012)
As Crime Lab Director, he oversees multimillion-dollar research initiatives that directly inform city policies. His labs have secured major federal and foundation grants to scale evidence-based programs, including Chicago Police Department collaborations that reduced gun violence through data-driven management changes and New York City partnerships developing pretrial risk assessment tools. The Crime Lab received a $1 million MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions in 2014.
Ludwig leads interdisciplinary teams spanning economists, data scientists, and criminologists across the Crime Lab, Education Lab, and NBER working group. These units operate as policy innovation engines, conducting randomized evaluations of social programs while building government capacity for evidence-based decision-making through technical assistance and data infrastructure development.
