IFM Program Leadership Transition

From: James Poterba <poterba_at_nber.org>
Date: Tue, 17 Jan 2017 09:38:13 -0500

Dear International Finance and Macro (IFM) Program Members -

Jeff Frankel, who has served with extraordinary distinction as IFM
program director for the last twenty-five years, has decided to step
down from this role at the end of the current academic year. Jeff has
built an intellectually vibrant program and supported the advance of
research on a wide range of topics during a period of remarkable change
in the international financial system. (He started as program director
the month before the Maastricht Treaty was signed....) Jeff has more
generally helped to shape the NBER's mission of research and
education. I hope that you will join me in thanking him for his
outstanding leadership, his hard work, and his dedication to the IFM
program and its members.

We will collectively thank Jeff for his service at a special dinner
during the 2017 Summer Institute. Please save the evening of Wednesday
July 12 for a gathering in Cambridge; further details will be
forthcoming as the date approaches.

In the next few months, I will reach out to many IFM program members to
solicit advice on selecting the next program director. I hope that you
will not hesitate to contact me and to share your views about what has
made Jeff's program leadership so successful, about important attributes
for his successor, and about significant directions in research activity
that may bear on this choice. I would also welcome suggestions about
potential candidates who might be well suited to this role.

I look forward to your input. All best wishes.

Jim Poterba
Received on Tue Jan 17 2017 - 09:43:23 EST