Speaker biographies

Edward Glaeser is the Fred and Eleanor Glimp Professor of Economics at Harvard University, the director of the Taubman Center for State and Local Government, and the director of the Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston. He studies the economics of cities and has written on numerous urban issues, including the growth of cities, segregation, crime, and housing markets. He has been particularly interested in the role that geographic proximity can play in fostering knowledge and innovation.

Joseph Gyourko is the Martin Bucksbaum Professor of Real Estate and Finance at the University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School, the chair of real estate department, and the director of the Samuel Zell and Robert Lurie Real Estate Center at Wharton. His research interests include real estate finance and investments, urban economics, and housing markets. Mr. Gyourko is a consultant and adviser to various real estate companies. He is also a trustee of the Urban Land Institute, a member of World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on the Future of Real Estate, and he serves on the board of EII Realty Securities, a real estate mutual fund.

Henry Olsen is vice president and director of the National Research Initiative (NRI). He disseminates and publicizes the Institute’s work to the academic community; works with AEI’s visiting, adjunct, and NRI research fellows; commissions and supervises NRI projects; and oversees the production of NRI publications. Mr. Olsen was previously vice president for programs at the Manhattan Institute and a clerk to the chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, Danny J. Boggs.

Alice Rivlin is a senior fellow in the economic studies program at the Brookings Institution and a visiting professor at Georgetown University’s Public Policy Institute. She directs the Brookings Greater Washington Research project and is an expert on urban issues as well as fiscal, monetary, and social policy. Previously, Ms. Rivlin served as vice chair of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors from 1996 until 1999. She also chaired the District of Columbia Financial Management Assistance Authority (1998 to 2001) and she served as the director of the White House Office of Management and Budget (1994–96). Ms. Rivlin was the founding director of the Congressional Budget Office in 1975.

John Weicher is the director of Hudson Institute’s Center for Housing and Financial Markets. Previously, he served as the assistant secretary for housing and the federal housing commissioner at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), where his major initiatives included promoting minority homeownership, regulatory reform of the real estate settlement process, and mission regulation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. He also served as the assistant secretary for policy development and research at HUD, and as a chief economist at both HUD and the White House Office of Management and Budget. Mr. Weicher has been a member of the Millennium Housing Commission, the U.S. Bureau of the Census’s advisory committee on population statistics, and the National Academy of Sciences committee on national urban policy.

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