Alicia Munnell to Step Down as Center for Retirement Research Director

Deputy Director to Assume Role, Backed by Veteran Research Team

Alicia H. Munnell, the founding director of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College (CRR), has announced that she will step down from her position on December 31, after more than two decades of leadership.

Munnell, who holds the Peter F. Drucker Chair in Management Sciences in the Carroll School of Management, is recognized as one of the nation’s most influential experts on retirement income policy.  Before coming to Boston College, she served as a member of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers and Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy.  Previously, she spent 20 years at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, where she became senior vice president and director of research.  She will remain with the CRR as a senior advisor.

Deputy Director Andrew Eschtruth, who has been with the organization since its inception, will become the next CRR director, supported by senior researchers Jean-Pierre Aubry, Anqi Chen, Laura Quinby, and Gal Wettstein.

Established in 1998, the CRR produces first-rate academic research and policy briefs to assist decisionmakers in both the public and private sectors on the critical issue of retirement security – a topic of growing importance to an aging population.  In addition, the Center trains new scholars in the field and broadens access to valuable data sources.

Provost and Dean of Faculties David Quigley thanked Munnell for her contributions to the field of retirement research and for building a nationally recognized research center at Boston College.

“Alicia Munnell is a distinguished economist whose scholarship has had a profound and lasting impact on strengthening the U.S. retirement system and household financial security throughout her career in government service and during her past quarter century here at Boston College,” said Quigley.  “She arrived at Chestnut Hill with a compelling vision for her new center and went on to build the CRR into the nation’s leading research center on retirement policy.  Her legacy includes the exceptional team she has created to carry on the CRR’s mission, and her mentoring of a generation of scholars around the world who are refining our understanding of the economics of aging, retirement, and lifelong financial health.”

Munnell praised the University for its support of the Center during the past two decades.

“The success of the Center can be traced directly to the tremendous backing of Boston College, which has been with us every step of the way.  BC, with its commitment to both scholarship and service, is the perfect environment for policy research.”

Importantly, Munnell has positioned the CRR for the future by attracting talented individuals who are passionate about the Center’s mission.

Eschtruth brings a wealth of substantive knowledge and organizational experience from working at the CRR for 25 years, helping it grow from a small start-up to a nationally recognized institution.  He has extensive experience in managing relationships with funders and the media, as well as keen insights from his years as a policy analyst in the federal government focused on the challenges posed by an aging population.

The members of the senior research team – who, on average, have been with the CRR for more than a decade – are all prominent voices in their areas of expertise.  Aubry leads the CRR’s state and local policy research unit, while Chen heads up the CRR’s work on savings and household finance.  Quinby is the point person for studies on employee benefits and labor markets and Wettstein leads efforts on health, healthcare finance, and insurance issues.  This group will assume more responsibilities in shaping the Center’s research program, expanding development activities, and mentoring junior researchers. 

“The CRR is in good hands.” said Munnell.  “I’m confident it will continue to thrive for decades to come.”