Canceled: Six Surprising Facts Regarding American Higher Education

Morton Schapiro began his term as the 16th president of Northwestern University on September 1, 2009. He is a professor of economics in Northwestern’s Judd A. and Marjorie Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences and also holds appointments in the J. L. Kellogg School of Management and the School of Education and Social Policy. President Schapiro is among the nation’s leading authorities on the economics of higher education, with particular expertise in the area of college financing and afford­ability and on trends in educational costs and student aid. He has testified before U.S. Senate and House committees on economic and educational issues and is widely quoted in the national media on those topics.

Previously President Schapiro was president of Williams College from 2000 to 2009. Earlier he had served as a member of the Williams College faculty from 1980 to 1991 as professor of economics and assistant provost. In 1991 he went to the University of Southern California, where he served as chair of the Department of Economics until 1994 and then as dean of the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences until 2000. During his last two years as dean, he also served as the university’s vice president for planning. President Schapiro has written more than 100 articles, and he has written and edited nine books.  He has received research grants and contracts from the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Education, the World Bank, the Spencer Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the College Board, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and other groups to study the economics of higher education and related topics. In 2010 he was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and in 2017 he was elected a member of the National Academy of Education.

He received his bachelor’s degree in economics from Hofstra University and his doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania.