Admitted Student Day

Schedule of Events

8:30 a.m.: Registration

9:00 - 11:15 a.m.: Welcome and faculty discussions

11:30 - 12:45 p.m.: Lunch and Student Panels

1:00 - 2:30 p.m.: Break-out sessions, resource fair, and tours

2:50 - 4:00 p.m.: Academic Affairs and Career Development

4:00 - 4:30 p.m.: Closing remarks with Dean Baicker

4:45 - 6:00 p.m.: Reception with current students, alumni, faculty, and staff

Featured Faculty

Dean Katherine Baicker is a leading scholar in the economic analysis of health care policy. She commenced as Dean and the Emmett Dedmon Professor at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy in August 15, 2017. Baicker’s research focuses primarily on the factors that drive the distribution, generosity, and effectiveness of public and private health insurance, with a particular focus on health insurance finance and the effect of reforms on the distribution and quality of care. She is currently one of the leaders of a research program investigating the many effects of expanding health insurance coverage in the context of a randomized Medicaid expansion in Oregon.

Ethan Bueno de Mesquita, AB'96, is the Sydney Stein Professor and Deputy Dean for Research & Strategic Initiatives at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy. He is an applied game theorist whose research focuses on political violence—especially terrorism, insurgency, and rebellion—and on democratic accountability.

Damon Jones is an associate professor at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy. He conducts research at the intersection of three fields within economics. First, there is public finance, the field of economics that analyzes government taxation and spending, using models of choice to predict the effects of policy and economic notions of well-being to measure the policy’s benefit or harm to consumers. Second is household finance, the branch of economics that focuses on the financial decisions, saving, borrowing and insurance, at the household level. Finally, there is behavioral economics, the branch of economics that uses insights from psychology and empirical evidence to explore the ways in which human behavior deviates from the neoclassical model of consumer decision-making. His current research topics include income tax policy, social security, retirement and retirement savings, and the interaction between employer-provided benefits and labor market outcomes.

Anne Rogers is the Associate Professor, Department of Computer Science, and Senior Fellow, Computation Institute. Anne is the Director of the Masters Program in Computer Science (MPCS) and faculty co-Director of the Computational Analysis and Public Policy Masters Program (MSCAPP), which is a joint effort of the Harris School of Public Policy and the Department of Computer Science.

Rayid Ghani is the Director of the Center for Data Science & Public Policy and a Senior Fellow at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy and the Computation Institute. Rayid is a reformed computer scientist and wannabe social scientist, but mostly just wants to increase the use of data-driven approaches in solving large public policy and social challenges. Among other areas, Rayid works with governments and nonprofits in policy areas such as health, criminal justice, education, public safety, economic development, and urban infrastructure. Before joining the University of Chicago, Rayid was the Chief Scientist of the Obama 2012 Election Campaign where he focused on data, analytics, and technology to target and influence voters, donors, and volunteers.

Ariel Kalil is a professor at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy. At Harris, she directs the Center for Human Potential and Public Policy and co-directs the Behavioral Insights and Parenting Lab. She also holds appointments as an adjunct professor in the Norwegian School of Economics in Bergen, Norway and in the School of Business Administration at the University of Stavanger, Norway. She is a developmental psychologist who studies economic conditions, parenting, and child development. Her current research examines the historical evolution of income-based gaps in parenting behavior and children’s cognitive and non-cognitive skills. In addition, at the Behavioral Insights and Parenting Lab, she is leading a variety of field experiments designed to strengthen parental engagement and child development in low-income families using tools drawn from behavioral economics and neuroscience.

Christopher R. Berry is a professor at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy, academic director of the Center for Municipal Finance, and faculty director of the Master of Science Program in Computational Analysis and Public Policy. His research interests include metropolitan governance, the politics of public finance, and intergovernmental fiscal relations. Berry is the author of Imperfect Union: Representation and Taxation in Multilevel Governments (Cambridge UP, 2010), winner of the Best Book Award in Urban Politics from the American Political Science Association, and many other scholarly publications. 

William Howell is the Sydney Stein Professor in American Politics at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy and a professor in the Department of Political Science and the College. He has written widely on separation-of-powers issues and American political institutions, especially the presidency. He currently is working on research projects on Obama's education initiatives, distributive politics, and the normative foundations of executive power.

Featured Staff

Adam McGriffin is the Director of Career Development and External Partnerships, and he leads the Career Development Office for the University of Chicago, Harris Public Policy. Prior to joining the University of Chicago he served as the Global Partnership and Government Relations Manager for Lions Club International, the world's largest service club organization. His primary focus was on building connections with organizations around the world, including the U.S. Congress, international corporations, governments, and NGO's.

Kate Biddle is the Dean and Director of Student Affairs at Harris.

Ranjan C. Daniels is the Associate Dean of Student Recruitment and Global Outreach at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy, where he is responsible for student recruitment and admissions, financial aid, executive education, new program development, and international partnerships. Ranjan has twenty years of experience building relationships and products, opening new markets, and driving innovation at the University of Chicago, Kaplan, Berkshire Hathaway, the Tribune Company, and the City of Chicago. Ranjan has an MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University, an MA in public policy from the Harris School, and a BA in political science from Emory University. Ranjan recommends that visiting students eat at the Medici on 57th—his favorite spot in Hyde Park—because of the diverse mix of people and the stellar milkshakes.