Friedman will lead the new school in expanding learning experiences for students that develop professional skills through real-world scenarios including policy simulations, research labs and field experiences as well as wide-ranging engagement with alumni in international and public affairs careers.

“Innovation comes from combining different perspectives in novel ways, and the collaborative spirit that is so present at Brown will enable the essential exchange of ideas and create pathways for scholars to step outside of their disciplinary environments,” Friedman said. “This cooperative ethos is embedded at Brown, which is the ideal environment to create this new community of scholars and learning.”

The school will encompass a wide range of research centers and initiatives — among them the Taubman Center for American Politics and Policy, the William R. Rhodes Center for International Economics and Finance, the Saxena Center for Contemporary South Asia and the Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Studies — that Paxson and Doyle said approach research and teaching on issues of global significance from a broad array of viewpoints.

“Under John’s leadership and with its exceptional community of faculty, staff and students, the Watson School will be uniquely situated to further Brown’s contributions to a rapidly evolving nation and world,” they wrote.

Paxson and Doyle noted that a generous gift from Mary and Jerome Vascellaro has endowed the position of dean of the Watson School, which will be known upon the school’s July 1 launch as the Vascellaro Family Dean of International and Public Affairs. The Vascellaros are members of Brown’s Class of 1974 and parents of a 2007 Brown graduate, and they have served in a wide variety of volunteer and service roles at Brown.

“The launch of the Watson School of International and Public Affairs will help shape a new era of global engagement and public impact at Brown,” Jerome Vascellaro said. “We look forward to the University’s success in preparing the next generation of global policymakers and leaders under John Friedman’s leadership and his successors for generations to come.”

Building on distinctive educational programs and outstanding faculty expertise

The Watson School’s launch follows years of planning during which Brown has expanded research expertise, education and academic initiatives in international and public affairs. In addition to sustaining its thriving undergraduate concentration, the school will enable Brown to expand an already robust MPA program, consider new master’s-level certificates, and offer opportunities for doctoral students on campus to engage on timely policy issues, Friedman said.

“This is an exciting opportunity to build on Watson’s depth of expertise in development, governance and security, and to broaden our focus to new issues, methodological tools, disciplinary insights and perspectives from across the ideological spectrum,” Friedman said. “The greatest resource of this school starts with Brown’s talented faculty. Together we can confront today’s global challenges — from the implications of technological change, to the risks posed by climate change, to the rise and fall of globalization as a political and economic paradigm — through a range of viewpoints and expertise.”

An influential figure in economics research, Friedman is a founding co-director of Opportunity Insights, an economics research lab that has led high-profile studies on social mobility and equality of opportunity. Across a range of important issues — from tax policy to education to the economic responses to COVID-19 — Friedman’s work has harnessed the power of big data to yield insights that have shaped policies at the federal, state and local levels. His work has appeared in top academic journals and media outlets and was cited by President Barack Obama in his 2012 State of the Union address. 

During his decade on the Brown faculty, Friedman contributed to establishing a summer term for the MPA program with hands-on policy labs, helped to create a summer research training program for undergraduates, and advanced fundraising for the Department of Economics, among many contributions. He has developed and taught a range of courses, including Using Big Data to Solve Economic and Social Problems, which aims to expand the discipline of economics to a wider range of students.

“Not only is a more diverse group of students taking introductory economics courses, but we have changed the mix of concentrators and created new on-ramps to engage in research as undergraduates at Brown,” Friedman said. “I look forward to applying my experience as a department chair and as a scholar focused on inequality and social mobility to working with partners across Brown to create exciting programs for the Watson School.”

Prior to joining the faculty at Brown, Friedman served as a special assistant to the president for economic policy for the National Economic Council from 2013 to 2014, and was an assistant professor of public policy at Harvard University’s Kennedy School from 2009 to 2014. He currently serves as a research associate for the National Bureau of Economic Research and is a member of the Rhode Island Council of Economic Advisors. Friedman serves as a co-editor of the American Economic Review, the flagship journal in economics, and is president-elect of the Eastern Economic Association. He earned a bachelor’s degree and a Ph.D. in economics from Harvard.

Friedman will begin as inaugural dean effective July 1, 2025, serving as a member of the president’s cabinet and of the provost’s leadership group of senior academic deans, which coordinates academic priorities across the University. The Watson School of International and Public Affairs will become Brown’s fifth school and follows the establishment of the School of Professional Studies in 2014, the School of Public Health in 2013, the School of Engineering in 2010, and what is now the Warren Alpert Medical School in 1972. 

The Corporation of Brown University approved the establishment of the new school during its May 2024 meetings. Since July 2024, Professor of Political Science Wendy Schiller has served as interim director of the Watson Institute, after longtime Watson Institute Director Edward Steinfeld completed his term. Both have been instrumental in paving the way for the new school, Paxson and Doyle noted.