Cecilia Ann Conrad (born 4 January 1955) is the

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of Lever for Change,

emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

of economics at

Pomona College Pomona College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Claremont, California. It was established in 1887 by a group of Congregationalists who wanted to recreate a "college of the New England type" in Southern California. In 1925, it became ...

, and managing director of the

John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is a private foundation that makes grants and impact investments to support non-profit organizations in approximately 50 countries around the world. It has an endowment of $7.0 billion and p ...

. She formerly served as the

Associate Dean Dean is a title employed in academic administrations such as colleges or universities for a person with significant authority over a specific academic unit, over a specific area of concern, or both. In the United States and Canada, deans are usua ...

of Academic Affairs at Pomona College. She currently oversees the foundation's

MacArthur Fellows The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and commonly but unofficially known as the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation typically to between 20 and 30 ind ...

and ''100&Change'' programs. Her research focuses on the effects of

race Race, RACE or "The Race" may refer to: * Race (biology), an informal taxonomic classification within a species, generally within a sub-species * Race (human categorization), classification of humans into groups based on physical traits, and/or s ...

and

gender Gender is the range of characteristics pertaining to femininity and masculinity and differentiating between them. Depending on the context, this may include sex-based social structures (i.e. gender roles) and gender identity. Most cultures u ...

on economic status.

Early life

Cecilia Conrad was born on January 4, 1955, in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

. Her parents, Emmett James Conrad and Eleanor Nelson Conrad, moved to

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

after her father became the first

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

surgeon In modern medicine, a surgeon is a medical professional who performs surgery. Although there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon usually is also a licensed physician or received the same medical training as ...

to join the staff of St. Paul’s Hospital, Dallas, Texas (now St. Paul University Hospital,

University of Texas Southwestern The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (UT Southwestern or UTSW) is a public academic health science center in Dallas, Texas. With approximately 18,800 employees, more than 2,900 full-time faculty, and nearly 4 million outpatient vis ...

). Dr. Emmett Conrad was appointed to the

Texas State Board of Education The Texas Education Agency (TEA) is the branch of the government of Texas responsible for public education in Texas in the United States.

by Governor Mark White in 1984, the first

elected to a citywide office in Dallas. Eleanor Conrad acted as his

campaign manager {{Political campaigning A campaign manager, campaign chairman, or campaign director is a paid or volunteer individual whose role is to coordinate a political campaign's operations such as fundraising, advertising, polling, getting out the vote ( ...

. Cecilia was their only child.

Education

Conrad says evening news coverage of the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

Civil Rights Movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional Racial segregation in the United States, racial segregation, Racial discrimination ...

, and the

international monetary system An international monetary system is a set of internationally agreed rules, conventions and supporting institutions that facilitate international trade, cross border investment and generally the reallocation of capital between states that have d ...

sparked her interest in

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

. She credits her high school math teacher with helping her further this interest by helping her participate in a

NSF NSF may stand for: Political organizations *National Socialist Front, a Swedish National Socialist party *NS-Frauenschaft, the women's wing of the former German Nazi party *National Students Federation, a leftist Pakistani students' political gr ...

sponsored summer

math Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

program where she learned

number theory Number theory (or arithmetic or higher arithmetic in older usage) is a branch of pure mathematics devoted primarily to the study of the integers and arithmetic function, integer-valued functions. German mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss (1777� ...

matrix algebra In abstract algebra, a matrix ring is a set of matrices with entries in a ring ''R'' that form a ring under matrix addition and matrix multiplication . The set of all matrices with entries in ''R'' is a matrix ring denoted M''n''(''R'')Lang, ''U ...

, Fortran, and

symbolic logic Mathematical logic is the study of formal logic within mathematics. Major subareas include model theory, proof theory, set theory, and recursion theory. Research in mathematical logic commonly addresses the mathematical properties of formal ...

. Conrad graduated from

Wellesley College Wellesley College is a private women's liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henry and Pauline Durant as a female seminary, it is a member of the original Seven Sisters Colleges, an unofficial g ...

in 1976 with a degree in economics. She received her

master's A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

and

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

in labor economics,

industrial organization In economics, industrial organization is a field that builds on the theory of the firm by examining the structure of (and, therefore, the boundaries between) firms and market (economics), markets. Industrial organization adds real-world complic ...

, and

public finance Public finance is the study of the role of the government in the economy. It is the branch of economics that assesses the government revenue and government expenditure of the public authorities and the adjustment of one or the other to achie ...

from

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

in 1982. Also during this time, Conrad was a fellow in the

Bell Laboratories Nokia Bell Labs, originally named Bell Telephone Laboratories (1925–1984), then AT&T Bell Laboratories (1984–1996) and Bell Labs Innovations (1996–2007), is an American industrial research and scientific development company owned by mult ...

Cooperative Research program, an affirmative action effort to increase the pool of

women A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or Adolescence, adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female hum ...

and minorities with doctoral degrees who might become future employees. She also worked as an

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

at the

Federal Trade Commission The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. The FTC shares jurisdiction ov ...

, Bureau of Economics, Economic Evidence Division. Wellesley college massachusetts

She holds

honorary doctorates An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

from both

Claremont Graduate University The Claremont Graduate University (CGU) is a private, all-graduate research university in Claremont, California. Founded in 1925, CGU is a member of the Claremont Colleges which includes five undergraduate (Pomona College, Claremont McKenna Co ...

and the

University of Massachusetts Dartmouth The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth (UMass Dartmouth or UMassD) is a public research university in Dartmouth, Massachusetts. It is the southernmost campus of the University of Massachusetts system. Formerly Southeastern Massachusetts Un ...

Career

While still attending Stanford, Conrad worked as an economist at the

, Bureau of Economics, Economic Evidence Division. She taught at

Barnard College Barnard College of Columbia University is a private women's liberal arts college in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a group of women led by young student activist Annie Nathan Meyer, who petitioned Columbia ...

and

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...

after graduating. In 1995, Conrad joined the faculty at

where she served various roles including the Stedman Sumner Chair in

Economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

. In 2002, she was awarded

California's California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the mo ...

Carnegie Professor of the Year. Conrad also served as

of Academic Affairs at Pomona from 2004-2007, during which she expanded the summer

undergraduate research Undergraduate research is often described as the exploration of a specific research topic by an undergraduate student that seeks to make an original contribution to the disciplinIt is a fairly recent concept in the academic community, with roots i ...

program to embrace a

humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at the t ...

and

liberal arts Liberal arts education (from Latin "free" and "art or principled practice") is the traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term ''art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically the ...

style education. She used her administrative position to advocate for better diversity and inclusivity on campus. Conrad served as interim

Dean of Faculty Dean is a title employed in academic administrations such as colleges or universities for a person with significant authority over a specific academic unit, over a specific area of concern, or both. In the United States and Canada, deans are usua ...

Scripps College Scripps College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Claremont, California. It was founded as a member of the Claremont Colleges in 1 ...

from 2007-2009. During this time, Conrad also served as

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

of the International Association for Feminist Economics (IAFFE), president of the

National Economic Association The National Economic Association (NEA) is a learned society established in 1969, focused on initiatives in the field of economics. The purposes of the Association are "to promote the professional lives of minorities within the profession. In a ...

, and on the

board Board or Boards may refer to: Flat surface * Lumber, or other rigid material, milled or sawn flat ** Plank (wood) ** Cutting board ** Sounding board, of a musical instrument * Cardboard (paper product) * Paperboard * Fiberboard ** Hardboard, a ty ...

of the American Economic Association's Committee on the Status of Women in the Economics Profession (CSWEP). In 2009, Conrad returned to Pomona and took the position of Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the College, which she held until 2012. In the fall of 2012 and for that academic year, Conrad also served as Acting President. In 2010, Conrad joined the

National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National I ...

's Committee on Equal Opportunities in Science and Engineering (CEOSE), where she served as Vice Chair from 2011-2012 and Chair from 2012-present. Conrad left her position at Pomona in January 2013, when she was asked to serve as Managing Director for the

MacArthur Foundation The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is a private foundation that makes grants and impact investments to support non-profit organizations in approximately 50 countries around the world. It has an endowment of $7.0 billion and p ...

. There, she manages the

MacArthur Fellows program The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and commonly but unofficially known as the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation typically to between 20 and 30 ind ...

as well as 100&Change, two programs that provide sizable grants to "extraordinarily creative and inspiring individuals." Conrad is also the CEO of Lever for Change, which is a nonprofit affiliate of the MacArthur Foundation. This organization works specifically to make philanthropic resources available for the benefit of

social change Social change is the alteration of the social order of a society which may include changes in social institutions, social behaviours or social relations. Definition Social change may not refer to the notion of social progress or sociocult ...

. Conrad is a member of the

Board of Trustees A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

Bryn Mawr College Bryn Mawr College ( ; Welsh: ) is a women's liberal arts college in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Founded as a Quaker institution in 1885, Bryn Mawr is one of the Seven Sister colleges, a group of elite, historically women's colleges in the United St ...

, the

Poetry Foundation The Poetry Foundation is an American literary society that seeks to promote poetry and lyricism in the wider culture. It was formed from ''Poetry'' magazine, which it continues to publish, with a 2003 gift of $200 million from philanthropist Rut ...

, the National Academy of Social Insurance, and

Muhlenberg College Muhlenberg College is a private liberal arts college in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1848, Muhlenberg College is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and is named for Henry Muhlenberg, the German patriarch of Luthera ...

. She is also an editor of ''

The Review of Black Political Economy ''The Review of Black Political Economy'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal established in 1970 publishing research on the economic status of African-Americans, the African diaspora, and other non-white marginalized populations. It is ...

'' and on the

editorial board The editorial board is a group of experts, usually at a publication, who dictate the tone and direction the publication's editorial policy will take. Mass media At a newspaper, the editorial board usually consists of the editorial page editor, a ...

of ''Feminist Economics''.

Awards and honors

* 2018, Samuel Z. Westerfield Award, awarded by the

* 2008, Woman of Power Award annual conference of the

National Urban League The National Urban League, formerly known as the National League on Urban Conditions Among Negroes, is a nonpartisan historic civil rights organization based in New York City that advocates on behalf of economic and social justice for African Am ...

* 2005,

Outstanding Academic Title Choice is a publishing unit of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL). It includes the magazine ''Choice'' as well as other products including the ''Choice Reviews'' database. The magazine was established in 1964. It is cons ...

for ''African Americans in the U.S. Economy'', awarded by ''

Choice Magazine Choice consists of the mental process of thinking involved with the process of judging the merits of multiple options and selecting one of them for action. Choice may also refer to: Mathematics * Binomial coefficient, a mathematical function des ...

'' * 2002, Carnegie Professor of the Year * 2002, Wig Distinguished Professorship Award for Excellence in Teaching, awarded by

Selected works

Books

* * * *Conrad, Cecilia A (2018). “Feminist Economics: Second Wave, Tidal Wave, or Barely a Ripple?” Chapter in edited volume ''The Legacy of 2nd Wave Feminism in American Politics'', edited by Angie Maxwell and Todd Shields, Palgrave MacMillan.

Research articles

* *Conrad, Cecilia A; Dixson, Adrienne; Sloan Green, Clementine "Tina" (2014). “A Discussion on Gender Equity and Women of Color,” ''Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies'', Vol 35, #3: pp 3-14. * *Conrad, Cecilia A (2018). “How to Mobilize Philanthropy to Advance Racial Equity? A Call to Action,” ''The Review of Black Political Economy'', Vol. 45, #2: pp 95-103. *Conrad, Cecilia A (August 6, 2019).
Big Grant, Big Learnings
” ''India Development Review''. *

Additional appearances

* Conrad, Cecilia A (September 3, 2014). �
The Geography of Genius: New Data About MacArthur Fellows Shows That Creative People Move More
” ''Time.'' * Conrad, Cecilia A (September 16, 2013). �
Our Society Discourages Innovation
” Op-Ed, Room for Debate, ''The New York Times.'' * Conrad, Cecilia A (September 20, 2013). �

” ''The Washington Post.'' * Conrad, Cecilia A (September 26, 2017). �
Giving Away $100 Million: A Peek behind the Curtain at MacArthur Foundation
” ''Nonprofit Quarterly.''
Interview with Priss Benbow
Stanford Social Innovation Review podcast, “MacArthur Foundation Program Leader Reflects on Lessons From 100&Change Grant Competition” April 23, 2019.
''Is there a bubble in the liberal arts college market?'' (transcription)
Pomona College Vice President and Dean of the College, Cecilia Conrad, speech at the 1 September 2009 Convocation.

References

External links

Profile: Cecilia A. Conrad
MacArthur Foundation
Profile: Cecilia A. Conrad
American Economic Association, Committee on the Status of Women in the Economics Profession (CSWEP)
Profile: Cecilia A. Conrad
Pomona College *
Lever for Change
{{DEFAULTSORT:Conrad, Cecilia A. 1955 births African-American educators African-American feminists American feminists American women academics Barnard College faculty Duke University faculty Federal Trade Commission personnel Feminist economists Living people Muhlenberg College faculty Pomona College faculty Scripps College Stanford University alumni Wellesley College alumni American women economists African-American economists Economists from Missouri Economists from California 21st-century American economists Presidents of the National Economic Association Presidents of the International Association for Feminist Economics