Katharine Abraham

Katharine G. Abraham is Distinguished University Professor of Economics at the University of Maryland and Co-Director of the Economic Measurement Research Institute housed at the National Bureau of Economic Research. 

She served as Commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics from 1993 through 2001 and as a Member of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers from 2011 through 2013.  She also chaired the Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking, whose recommendations formed the basis for the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act passed by the U.S. Congress in 2018. She currently serves as President of the American Economic Association and Chair of the Committee on National Statistics, National Academy of Sciences (NAS). Abraham is a member of the NAS, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a distinguished fellow of the American Economic Association.  

Her recent research includes papers on nonstandard work arrangements and the gig economy; work and retirement at older ages; student financial aid; trends in hours and labor force participation; and the measurement of economic conditions and activity. She received her Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University and her B.S. in economics from Iowa State University.