Award for Global Engagement

Dr. Paul Glewwe, professor in the Department of Applied Economics, has built an internationally renowned research and teaching program in micro-economic development that places the department and the University of Minnesota at the forefront of global engagement in economic development. The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis ranks Dr. Glewwe in the top 3 percent of economists in the world.

Since arriving at the University of Minnesota in 1999, Dr. Glewwe has undertaken many activities that have provided opportunities for global engagement for both faculty and students. He runs the Department of Applied Economics’ Trade and Development Seminar and also leads the Midwest International Economic Development Conference, which he founded in 2004. The conference attracts hundreds of participants from across the U.S., Asia, Europe, and Latin America.

Dr. Glewwe’s contribution to teaching and graduate student advising has been instrumental in developing the next generation of global leaders, and he is often sought out as a thesis adviser. In the past two years, he has been the main adviser for 42 percent of Ph.D. candidates in the Department of Applied Economics.

He has conducted research on poverty, inequality, health and nutrition, and most importantly on education in developing countries. His seminal research in Ghana and the Philippines has shown that child nutrition during the first two years of life leads to increased years of school and improved learning per year of schooling. His research in Africa, Asia, and Latin America further demonstrates that some school characteristics and policies lead to improved learning while others seem to have little effect.

He also made key methodological contributions to the evaluation process of education in developing countries. As a result of his path-breaking research, Dr. Glewwe has contributed to the literature on how to collect household survey data in developing countries, including editing a large three-volume book on designing household surveys in developing countries that was published by Oxford University Press for the World Bank. He has published his research in approximately 50 journal articles, 25 book chapters, and four books. Additionally, his work is highly cited and he is often invited to give lectures around the world.

Dr. Glewwe holds several advisory positions in leading organizations that conduct research and provide policy advice on global economic development, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Poverty Action Lab, Oxford University’s Young Lives Project, and the World Bank’s Integrated Surveys on Agriculture project.

One of the highest achievements of an applied economist is to make real and lasting changes in people’s lives by the application of economic theory and empirical methods to measured data. Dr. Glewwe has clearly reached this achievement.