Alicia Munnell to Step Down From Center for Retirement Research
Munnell will step down as director at year-end after more than two decades of leadership.
Alicia Munnell, the founding director of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, will step down from her post on Dec. 31.
CRR Deputy Director Andrew Eschtruth, who has also been with the organization since its inception in 1998, will become the next director. He will be supported by a team of senior researchers, including Jean-Pierre Aubry, Anqi Chen, Laura Quinby and Gal Wettstein.
Munnell, who holds the Peter F. Drucker Chair in Management Sciences in the Carroll School of Management, is recognized as one of the nation’s most influential experts on retirement income policy. She has led the CRR for more than 20 years.
Before coming to Boston College, Munnell was a member of President Bill Clinton’s Council of Economic Advisers and an assistant secretary of the treasury for economic policy. Before that, she spent 20 years at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
Munnell will remain with the CRR as a senior advisor, according the group’s announcement.
“The success of the Center can be traced directly to the tremendous backing of Boston College, which has been with us every step of the way,” Munnell said in a statement. “BC, with its commitment to both scholarship and service, is the perfect environment for policy research.”
David Quigley, Boston College provost and dean of faculties, thanked Munnell for her contributions to the field of retirement research and for “building a nationally recognized research center at Boston College.”
“Alicia Munnell is a distinguished economist whose scholarship has had a profound and lasting impact on strengthening the U.S. retirement system and household financial security throughout her career in government service and during her past quarter century here at Boston College,” Quigley said.
The members of the senior research team will continue to maintain their focus areas, according to the announcement. Aubry leads the CRR’s state and local policy research unit, while Chen heads up the CRR’s work on savings and household finance.
Quinby is the point person for studies on employee benefits and labor markets, and Wettstein leads efforts on health, health care finance and insurance issues. The group will assume more responsibilities in shaping the Center’s research program, expanding development activities and mentoring junior researchers.
“The CRR is in good hands,” Munnell said. “I’m confident it will continue to thrive for decades to come.”
Pictured: Alicia Munnell