The University announced Tuesday afternoon that Rachel Kranton, James B. Duke professor of economics, will take over the position of dean of social sciences July 1.
Kranton came to Duke in 2007. She will take the reigns from Harris Cooper, Hugo L. Blomquist professor of psychology and neuroscience, who has been in the role of interim dean since September 2017.
“In previous roles, I have learned to be attentive to different viewpoints and to reconcile competing demands; identifying opportunities and tradeoffs is also foundational to my work," Kranton said in the Duke Today release. "I hope to bring this experience and perspective to bear on creating new pathways for excellence in scholarship.”
The economist was on sabbatical for 2017-2018, and her work focuses on using mathematical tools to discover network structures and therefore influence economic outcomes.
She earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania and her Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley.
“I am honored to be working for and with such a dedicated community of scholars and teachers,” Kranton said in the release.
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