Rhodes Center to promote policy-oriented int'l economics
Debbie Lehmann
Issue date: 3/2/07 Section: Campus News
A $10 million gift from William Rhodes '57, senior vice chairman of Citigroup and a former University trustee, will establish the Rhodes Center for International Economics at the Watson Institute for International Studies. The gift is the most recent gesture of support for Brown's growing research and teaching in business, entrepreneurship and economics.
The Corporation last weekend accepted the gift to fund the center and create an endowed professorship in international trade and finance. The center will promote "first-rate" research on international economic issues, particularly those that are relevant to policy, according to Professor of Economics Ross Levine, who helped draft the proposal for the gift. The Rhodes Center, which will be located in the Watson Institute, where Rhodes is a board member, will also support academic conferences and visiting professors.
"Economics touches on the lives of many people," Levine said. "If we're teaching students to prepare for the world and take jobs in the world, knowledge of international economics will be of great use to them."
The establishment of the Rhodes Center goes hand-in-hand with student interest in taking finance and economics classes within the context of a liberal arts education, Levine said.
Student interest in economics has been rising consistently over the past five years, according to Professor of Economics Andrew Foster, the department chair. Foster said enrollments in economics classes are up 25 percent from last year, partly because there is a renewed "general sense that economics has something to say about world issues."
Foster said the Department of Economics has changed significantly over the last decade and no longer keeps to itself on campus. The increase in interdisciplinary programs that include economics is not only due to interest from other departments that want to be engaged, he said, but also to faculty within the department who are interested in disciplines outside of economics.
The Corporation last weekend accepted the gift to fund the center and create an endowed professorship in international trade and finance. The center will promote "first-rate" research on international economic issues, particularly those that are relevant to policy, according to Professor of Economics Ross Levine, who helped draft the proposal for the gift. The Rhodes Center, which will be located in the Watson Institute, where Rhodes is a board member, will also support academic conferences and visiting professors.
"Economics touches on the lives of many people," Levine said. "If we're teaching students to prepare for the world and take jobs in the world, knowledge of international economics will be of great use to them."
The establishment of the Rhodes Center goes hand-in-hand with student interest in taking finance and economics classes within the context of a liberal arts education, Levine said.
Student interest in economics has been rising consistently over the past five years, according to Professor of Economics Andrew Foster, the department chair. Foster said enrollments in economics classes are up 25 percent from last year, partly because there is a renewed "general sense that economics has something to say about world issues."
Foster said the Department of Economics has changed significantly over the last decade and no longer keeps to itself on campus. The increase in interdisciplinary programs that include economics is not only due to interest from other departments that want to be engaged, he said, but also to faculty within the department who are interested in disciplines outside of economics.