Imperial health economist is made President-elect of the Royal Economic Society

Professor Carol Propper from Imperial College Business School, has been appointed as President-Elect of the Royal Economic Society.

Professor Propper, Associate Dean of Faculty and Research at the Business School will take up her position as President-Elect of the Royal Economic Society, a renowned society which aims to promote the study of economic science. It has around 400 members and publishes the Economics Journal and The Econometrics Journal.

The Royal Economic Society has a tripartite Presidential system with three Presidents serving at any one time for a three-year term, as President-Elect, President and Immediate Past President.

In her role as President-Elect, Professor Propper will chair the Society’s Communications and Women’s Committees for the next three years. Next year, in the role of President, she will also chair the Council and Executive Committee.

Professor Propper will join Professor Rachel Griffith, Research Director of the Institute of Fiscal Studies, who is now the current President and Professor Lord Nicholas Stern, who now becomes the Society’s Immediate Past President. He is Chairman of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics.

Professor Griffiths is the Society’s first female President in over 35 years and only the second women to hold the post in the Society’s 129-year history. This is the first time that two women have been in Presidential positions as the same time. They will join the ranks of other world-leading economists who have led the Society since it was formed in 1890. 

"As a leading expert in health economics, her work on addressing the critical challenges facing healthcare systems is widely regarded by economists all over the world." Professor Francisco Veloso Dean of Imperial College Business School

Commenting on her appointment, Professor Propper said: “I am honoured to be named President-Elect of this prestigious Society and look forward to working with the Society over the next year to support the work of economists. The Royal Economic Society is well placed to build upon its engagement with the public, media and schools, to create a better understanding of the role economics plays in the world.”

Professor Francisco Veloso, Dean of Imperial College Business School said: “I’m delighted to congratulate Carol on this incredible achievement.  As a leading expert in health economics, her work on addressing the critical challenges facing healthcare systems is widely regarded by economists all over the world. She makes an important contribution to the intellectual leadership of the Business School and I’m delighted to have her among our faculty. This accolade also reflects our mission as a school to become a leading voice on public policy issues.”  

Professor Propper is a Chair in Economics at Imperial College Business School and her research specialises in the use of markets and financial incentives to improve delivery of healthcare and other public services.

She joined Imperial as Professor of Economics and Head of the Health Management Group in 2007. In the 1990s, she acted as a senior economic adviser to the NHS and has undertaken a wide range of public service activities including as Chair of the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) research grants board (2005-2009) and as a member of the ESRC Council.

In 2010, she received a CBE for her services to social science for her work in public economics and the economics of healthcare.  In 2014, she was elected a Fellow of the British Academy and in 2017 she received the International Health Economics Association’s 25^th Arrow Award, which recognises excellence in the field of health economics. 

Last year she was elected as an International Member of the Academy of Medicine, an elite US based body that recognises individuals who have demonstrated outstanding achievement in the fields of health and medicine.