New La Follette School of Public Affairs director named

Thomas DeLeire is the new director of the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s La Follette School of Public Affairs.

DeLeire is an associate professor of public affairs and population health sciences, an affiliated professor of economics, and a faculty affiliate of the Institute for Research on Poverty at UW–Madison.

For the past year, he has been interim director of the UW–Madison Population Health Institute.

DeLeire is an economist whose research focuses on labor and health economics. His most recent research has comprised an evaluation of the state of Wisconsin’s recent reforms to its health insurance program for low-income families, called BadgerCare Plus. He also is conducting studies on economic mobility, job loss and underinsurance.

In previous work, he has examined the effect of the Americans with Disabilities Act on the employment of disabled citizens, the extent to which disabled workers face wage discrimination by employers and the role that tax-favored savings accounts play in increasing national savings.

DeLeire has twice taken leave from his university appointments to work in government.

Before joining the La Follette School in 2007, he was a senior analyst at the Congressional Budget Office from 2005-07. From 2002-03, DeLeire was senior economist for labor, health and education for the Council of Economic Advisers.

He previously taught at Michigan State University, the University of Chicago and Harvard University. He has a doctoral degree in economics from Stanford University.

DeLeire replaces Carolyn J. Heinrich, who served as director from 2008-11.