Melissa S. Kearney

Since an early age, Melissa S. Kearney has been drawn to issues of economic opportunity and social mobility and how they shape the life trajectories of children and their families. She has dedicated her career to researching and addressing economic challenges and creating meaningful and lasting changes in family stability and economic opportunity. 

In 1996, Kearney received her bachelor’s degree in economics from Princeton University. Then in 2002, she went on to earn a PhD in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she studied on a National Science Foundation graduate research fellowship and a Harry S. Truman scholarship. Kearney is the Neil Moskowitz Professor of Economics at the University of Maryland and teaches courses on economic decision-making, public finance, and government roles in the economy. 

Bridging rigorous economic analysis with pressing social issues, her scholarship centers on the economics of families and on poverty, inequality, and social mobility in the United States. Her research has been published in leading academic journals and is frequently cited in the popular press. She regularly engages with public audiences and policymakers to illuminate economic challenges and propose evidence-based solutions. 

Beyond her academic endeavors, Kearney is a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, director of the Aspen Economic Strategy Group, and a non-resident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. She is an editorial board member of both the American Economic Journal: Economic Policy and the Journal of Economic Literature and contributes extensively to many academic, policy, and research organizations. Dedicated to addressing economic disparities, she strives to use her work and research to improve outcomes for individuals and families from even the most disadvantaged backgrounds.