Rebecca M. Blank, chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, received the Daniel Patrick Moynihan Prize from the American Academy of Political and Social Science. The prize honors individuals “who use sound analysis and social science research to inform public policy while also contributing to the public discourse on society’s most pressing issues.”
Dr. Blank became chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2013. She had been serving as acting secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce. Dr. Blank joined the Department of Commerce in 2009 as undersecretary for economic affairs. Previously, she was a fellow at the Brookings Institution.
From 1999 to 2007, Dr. Blank was the dean of the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan. She has also taught at MIT, Princeton University, and Northwestern University.
Dr. Blank is a graduate of the University of Minnesota, where she majored in economics. She earned a Ph.D. in economics at MIT.