SIPA Professor Sandra Black Receives American Economic Association’s 2024 Carolyn Shaw Bell Award
Sandra E. Black, professor of economics at SIPA, has been named the recipient of the 2024 Carolyn Shaw Bell Award by the Committee on the Status of Women in the Economics Profession (CSWEP). CSWEP, a standing committee of the American Economic Association (AEA), works to promote women's careers in economics through mentoring, networking, and monitoring progress in the field. The Carolyn Shaw Bell Award, named for CSWEP’s first chair, honors those who further women's advancement in the economics profession.
The award, which will be formally presented during the 2025 AEA/ASSA meeting in January, recognizes Black's exceptional commitment to supporting women in economics at all career stages, as well as her influential research agenda.
Black is known across the profession as an unparalleled mentor; her nomination for this award included testimonials from over 70 economists highlighting her generosity with time and advice. The “Sandy Lab,” as Black’s weekly PhD student research groups have come to be known, is a unique space for peer support and guidance and exemplifies her commitment to fostering a new generation of women in economics.
Prior to this award, her contributions have earned her numerous accolades, including election as a Fellow of both the Society of Labor Economists and the Econometric Society. She is a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) and a research affiliate at various organizations, while serving on the Faculty Advisory Board of SIPA's Institute of Global Politics (IGP).
Black's innovative scholarship has provided crucial insights into how early life experiences shape long-term outcomes and created better understanding of school quality's impact on housing values, gender and discrimination in labor markets, economic inequality, and the mechanisms of intergenerational wealth transfer. She served on President Barack Obama's Council of Economic Advisers from 2015-2017, where she briefed the president on monthly employment figures and worked on labor economics issues including early childhood education and criminal justice reform.
“I am very honored to get this award. Many of the previous recipients were important role models to me,” said Black. “I have tried throughout my career to improve the profession for women, which I believe also makes it a better place for everyone, and I am so happy to be recognized for this effort.”
Media contact: Lionel Beehner, 212-814-2050, [email protected]
About the School of International and Public Affairs: For more than 75 years, SIPA has been educating professionals who work in public, private, and nonprofit organizations to make a difference in the world. Through rigorous social science research and hands-on practice, SIPA’s graduates and faculty strive to improve social services, advocate for human rights, strengthen markets, protect the environment, and secure peace, in their home communities and around the world. For more information, please visit sipa.columbia.edu.
About Columbia University: A leading academic and research university, Columbia continually seeks to advance the frontiers of knowledge and to foster a campus community deeply engaged in understanding and addressing the complex global issues of our time. Columbia’s extensive public service initiatives, cultural collaborations, and community partnerships help define the University’s underlying values and mission to educate students to be both leading scholars and informed, engaged citizens. Founded in 1754 as King’s College, Columbia University in the City of New York is the fifth oldest institution of higher learning in the United States.