Gregory D. Hess, the Russell S. Bock Chair of Public Economics and Taxation, has begun his new role as vice president for academic affairs and dean of the faculty. Hess will fill the remaining two years of a three-year term previously held by Jerome Garris, who announced in the spring that he would be stepping down as dean but has transitioned into his new post as senior associate dean of the faculty.
Hess, who joined the College in 2002, received his Ph.D. in economics from Johns Hopkins University. He is the associate editor of Economics and Politics, the book review editor of Macroeconomic Dynamics, a research fellow at CESifo, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat and Institute for Economic Research, and a member of the Shadow Open Market Committee. He has written or co-authored dozens of articles and book chapters dealing with topics as diverse as terrorism, taxation, business cycles and love. He has taught at the undergraduate and graduate levels at universities in the United States and the United Kingdom, and served for four years as an economist at the Federal Reserve Board in Washington, D.C. He has also consulted at the Federal Reserve Banks of Cleveland, Kansas City and St. Louis, the Bank of Japan, and for Honda Motors of North America.
This diverse experience has given Hess both an insider's and an outsider's view of CMC. As to the former, Hess explains, "CMC has a unique mission among liberal arts colleges, and my academic background as an economist who works on public policy and political economy issues dovetails nicely with this." From an outsider's perspective, he explains, "you can learn a lot about what works and what doesn't if you have been a number of places."
Hess says his top priority will be to continue to recruit and retain top faculty as the College grows and as some faculty retire. "Finding faculty who can fill the College's next generation of teacher-scholars is job one," says Hess. "Once you find them, you have to make sure you keep them. Students benefit from faculty continuity, so I will have to do my best to succeed in this area."
Additionally, Hess will work to revise faculty governance to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the College as an institution. "Economists have come to learn what government scholars learned long ago---namely, that institutions matter. At CMC, faculty governance is an essential area where I think we need to make some progress," says Hess.
Hess says he looks forward to working with the group he has dubbed the "Dean Team" associate deans of the faculty Andrew Busch, professor of government, and Amy Kind, associate professor of philosophy and religious studies. He also notes his appreciation to the excellent foundation prepared by Dean Garris. "Jerry brought with him a wealth of experience and common sense," Hess says, "and filling his shoes will be a challenge."