University of Delaware names Lucas chair of economics department

The University of Delaware has appointed Adrienne Lucas as department chair of economics at the Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics.

She is the first female department chair and was also the first female full professor to work at the department.

In addition to her professorship, Lucas is a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research and a faculty affiliate of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab. She is also a non-resident fellow at the Center for Global Development and a research network member of Innovations for Poverty Action.

She is a development economist specializing in the economics of education and disease. Her current research focuses on the importance of information in school choice decisions, using existing school system personnel and resources to increase student learning, and external validity across contexts.

Lucas has published research on malaria, free primary education, HIV/AIDS, secondary school choice, the return to school quality, teacher incentives and improving early primary school literacy.

Prior to joining the University of Delaware, she was an assistant professor of economics at Wellesley College. She received her Ph.D. and A.M. in economics from Brown University and her B.A. in economics from Wesleyan University.