Dame Carol Propper, Professor of Economics at the Business School, has today been appointed to the Board of the UK Statistics Authority.

The UK Statistics Authority is an independent regulator whose main objective is to promote and safeguard the production and publication of official statistics that serve the public good. The Authority is also required to promote and safeguard the quality and comprehensiveness of official statistics and ensure good practice in relation to official statistics. The Authority is an independent body, operating as a non-ministerial department, directly accountable to Parliament.

Professor Propper will join two other newly appointed non-executive directors, whose combined expertise in statistics, economics and digital transformation will help the Authority in its efforts to ensure the UK statistical system delivers for the public good.

The new non-executive directors were recommended by an assessment panel led by the Authority’s Chair, Sir Robert Chote, after an open competition regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. Ministers have appointed each non-executive director to serve a four-year term ending on 12 February 2027.

Professor Propper will take up her new non-executive director role, whilst continuing her existing remit at Imperial College Business School where she is a Professor of Economics.

"The UK Statistics Authority plays a key role in advancing our understanding of the British economy and society and it is an honour to be part of it.”  Dame Carol Propper Professor of Economics, Business School

A world-renowned economist and an expert in workforce and health statistics, Professor Propper is a British Academy Fellow, an International Fellow of the American National Academy of Medicine and the Centre for Economics Policy Research and a former President of the Royal Economic Society. She is also a member of President Emmanuel Macron’s expert commission on major economic challenges. She was made a Dame in the 2021 New Year’s Honours for her contributions to economics and public health.

As one of the UK’s leading health economists, she has been a key voice on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the NHS, producing papers which address the spending needs relating to healthcare and the coronavirus and the future of the NHS after the pandemic. She has also championed the need for greater diversity among the economics community.

Reacting to the news of her appointment, Professor Propper said: “I am very excited to take up this role. The UK Statistics Authority plays a key role in advancing our understanding of the British economy and society and it is an honour to be part of it.” 

Offering his congratulations, Professor Francisco Veloso, Dean of Imperial College Business School said: “Congratulations to Carol for this prestigious appointment. As one of the UK’s leading health economists, Carol is an inspiration to the Business School community and we greatly value the expertise she brings to our expanding work in the field of economics and our mission to use our research to address societal challenges.”

Professor Propper’s appointment coincides with the departure of Jonathan Haskel, Professor of Economics at the Business School, who is finishing his four-year term as a current non-executive director of the UK Statistics Authority.