Barbara Fraumeni Acknowledged Nationally for Contributions to Economics
December 5, 2006
Portland, ME: Barbara Fraumeni, professor of public policy and chair of the Ph.D. program at the USM Muskie School of Public Service, was awarded the U.S. Department of Commerce's highest award, a Gold Medal, in November for her pioneering work on R&D and the U.S. economy. She also received an award from the American Economic Association for her advancement of women in the field of economics.
She was awarded the U.S. Department of Commerce Gold Medal while she was chief economist at the Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis, for her contributions in developing a way to treat R&D as an investment, rather than as an expense, and to evaluate its contribution to economic growth. "The U.S. leads the world in R&D performance, yet this fact is not explicitly recognized in gross domestic product (GDP)," said Fraumeni. "Our estimates suggest that on average over the past 45 years the contribution of R&D to economic growth is double that for other types of business investments."
In early January, Fraumeni will be presented with the 2006 Carolyn Shaw Bell Award from the American Economic Association's Committee on the Status of Women in the Economics Profession (CSWEP) for furthering the status of women in the field of economics through example, mentoring, and achievements. The late Carolyn Shaw Bell, a professor at Wellesley College, became the first chair of CSWEP in late 1971 and introduced Fraumeni to the field of national income accounting.
Previous Bell award winners include Alice Rivlin from the Brookings Institution, Francine Blau from Cornell University, Barbara Bergmann from American University and Claudia Goldin from Harvard University.
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