Dr. Madrian: Boettner
Chair in Financial Gerontology
Dr. Brigitte
Madrian has been designated the Joseph E. and Ruth E.
Boettner Chair in Financial Gerontology. In
July, she came to Penn, joining the Wharton School's department
of Business and Public Policy as an associate professor.
Previous
appointments include positions at the University of Chicago
and Harvard University. Her
credentials in analyzing the economic well-being of the
elderly put her at the top of the applicant pool for the
chair. In the past, Dr. Madrian received the TIAA-CREF
Paul A. Samuelson Award for Outstanding Scholarly Writing
on Lifelong Financial Security and the National Academy
of Social Insurance Heinz Dissertation Award in 1994. Her
areas of research encompass pensions, health insurance,
and employee benefits.
Dr. Madrian earned her B.A. from Brigham
Young University in 1989 and her Ph.D. from MIT in 1993.
She is currently pursuing projects in the determinants
of employee savings behavior in 401(k) and other employer-sponsored
savings plans, including the impact of market returns,
matching, financial education, defaults, and other aspects
of plan design on savings outcomes.
The Boettner
Center studies the relationships among aging, financial
issues and quality of life. It
was transferred to the Wharton School in 2002 from the
School of Social Work. Affiliates of the center focus on
challenges and opportunities associated with global aging
and retirement. A strong thrust of research is being conducted
in successful retirement savings, financial securities,
and investment options after retirement, general public
and private retirement income programs.
The Boettner
Institute of Financial Gerontology was established in
1986 at the American College in Bryn
Mawr, through the generosity of Joseph E. and Ruth Elizabeth
Boettner. In 1997 the Boettner Institute of Financial
Gerontology endowed the Boettner Chair in Financial Gerontology.