Christina Paxson

After spending her childhood in Forest Hills, a suburb of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Paxson received her B.A. from Swarthmore College in 1982, where she majored in Economics and minored in English and Philosophy.[5] Originally a graduate student at Columbia University's Business School, Paxson transferred to Columbia's Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, receiving her M.A. and Ph.D. in economics, in 1985 and 1987, respectively, with a focus on labor.[1][6]

In 2000, she founded the Center for Health and Wellbeing at Princeton, an interdisciplinary research center based in the Woodrow Wilson School. She served as the chair of Princeton's Economics Department in academic year 2008–09. She was also the founding director of an NIA Center for the Economics and Demography of Aging at Princeton.[1] During her time at Princeton, Paxson also served as a visiting professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School.[7]

Paxson's most recent research focuses on the impact of childhood health and circumstances on economic and health outcomes over the lifecourse; the impact of the AIDS crisis on children's health and education in Africa; and the long run consequences of Hurricane Katrina on the mental and physical health of vulnerable populations. Paxson has been a Senior Editor of The Future of Children, an interdisciplinary journal that works to build a bridge between cutting edge social science research and the policy community.

In 2013, Paxson wrote a New Republic op-ed, arguing for ongoing relevance of the humanities from an economist's perspective.[8]

Paxson has also maintained numerous institutional affiliations: in addition to being a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, she was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2017.[9][10] The previous year, she became a member of the Board of Directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. After serving as its deputy chair, she became the chair of its Board of Directors in 2021.[11][12][13] In 2018, Paxson received an honorary doctorate from Williams College.[14]

She has been a member of the Kol Emet congregation a Jewish Reconstructionist synagogue, committed to the growth of a spiritually and intellectually engaging Judaism.[15][16][17]

As President of Brown University, Paxson has focused on cultivating entrepreneurship and collaboration between the students and faculty. Under her leadership, the University has also opened a new School of Public Health, launched the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society, and is in connection with the Watson Institute for Public and International Affairs. She has also sustained undergraduate financial aid as the fastest growing area of Brown's budget, by increasing scholarships for low income families.[18]

In wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Paxson penned a New York Times op-ed and appeared on CNN, outlining her views on the importance of reopening colleges safely in the fall of 2020.[19][20] On June 4, 2020, Paxson testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, during a hearing entitled “COVID-19: Going Back to College Safely."[21]

• “Stature and Status: Height, Ability, and Labor Market Outcomes” (with Anne Case), Journal of Political Economy, 116(3): 499–532, June 2008.
• “Racial Disparities in Childhood Asthma in the US: Evidence from the National Health Interview Survey, 1997–2003” (with Marla McDaniel and Jane Waldfogel), Pediatrics 117(5): e868-e877, May 2006.
• “Orphans in Africa: Parental Death, Poverty and School Enrollment” (with Anne Case and Joseph Ableidinger), Demography 41(3), pp. 483–508, August 2004.
• “Economic Status and Health in Childhood: The Origins of the Gradient” (with Anne Case and Darren Lubotsky), American Economic Review 92(5), December 2002.
• “Economies of Scale, Household Size, and the Demand for Food” (with Angus Deaton), Journal of Political Economy 106(5): 897–930, October 1998.
• “Intertemporal Choice and Inequality” (with Angus Deaton), Journal of Political Economy 102(3): 437–467, 1994.
• “Consumption and Income Seasonality in Thailand,” Journal of Political Economy 101(1): 39–72, February 1993.
• “Using Weather Variability to Estimate the Response of Savings to Transitory Income in Thailand,” American Economic Review 82(1), March 1992.
• "Causes and Consequences of Early Life Health" (with Anne Case) Demography 47(1): S65-S85, March 2010.
• "The Long Reach of Childhood Health and Circumstance: Evidence from the Whitehall II Study" (with Anne Case), Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society 121(554): F183-F204, 2008.
• "The Impact of the AIDS Pandemic on Health Services in Africa: Evidence from Demographic and Health Surveys" (With Anne Case), Demography 48(2): 675–697, May 2009.
• "Making Sense of the Labor Market Height Premium: Evidence From the British Household Panel Survey" (With Anne Case and Mahnaz Islam), Economics Letters 102(3): 174–176, March 2008.
• "The Income Gradient in Children's Health: A Comment on Currie, Shields and Wheatley Price" (With Anne Case & Diana Lee), Journal of Health Economics 27(3), 801–807, October 2007
• "Socioeconomic Status and Health in Childhood: A Comment on Chen, Martin and Matthews" (With Anne Case & Tom Vogl), Social Science & Medicine, 189-214
• "From Cradle to Grave? The Lasting Impact of Childhood Health and Circumstance" (With Anne Case & Angela Fertig), Journal of Health Economics 24(2), 365-389.

• Brown University Office of the President
• Christina Paxson Biography from Brown University
• Paxson Curriculum Vitae
• Publications on the National Bureau of Economic Research