Heidi Shierholz (born October 10, 1971) is the president of the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank based in Washington, D.C.[1][2] She previously served as Chief Economist of the United States Department of Labor under Secretary Thomas Perez.[3][4][5]
Heidi Shierholz
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Chief Economist of the United States Department of Labor | |
In office August 27, 2014 – January 20, 2017 | |
President | Barack Obama |
Preceded by | Jennifer Hunt |
Succeeded by | Janelle Jones |
Personal details | |
Born | (1971-10-10) October 10, 1971 (age 52) |
Political party | Democratic |
Education | Grinnell College (BA) Iowa State University (MS) University of Michigan (MA, PhD) |
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Shierholz studied mathematicsatGrinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa, earning a B.A. in 1994. She earned a M.S.instatisticsatIowa State University in 1996. She then studied economics at the University of Michigan, earning a M.A. in 2001 and Ph.D. in 2005.[4][6]
Shierholz worked as an assistant professor of economics at the University of Toronto from 2005 to 2007.[7] Shierholz joined the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) in 2007.[8] At EPI, Shierholz worked on unemployment policy, ways to support the long-term unemployed, and possible policies to pull America out of the recession.[4] She co-authored two editions of The State of Working America, EPI's flagship publication.[9][10] Before joining the Department of Labor, Shierholz regularly wrote for a number of publications, including U.S. News & World Report column "Economic Intelligence,"[11] the Washington Post,[12] and the Huffington Post.[13] She has been called to testify before Congress on labor market issues, including unemployment insurance and immigration.[5]