Rodney Ludema

Rodney D. Ludema, Ph.D. joined the U.S. State Department as Chief Economist on July 14, 2014. He is taking leave from Georgetown University, where he has been a professor in both the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service and the Department of Economics since 1995. The Chief Economist has a rank administratively equivalent to an Assistant Secretary of State and reports to the Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy and the Environment.Dr. Ludema has published extensively on international economics. His research and publications have focused on international trade policy and institutions, international political economy, tax competition, economic geography, and the nexus of trade and the environment. His research has been supported by the National Science Foundation, presented widely at conferences and seminars, including the National Bureau of Economic Research, and published in leading economic journals. He also serves as an associate editor of the Journal of International Economics and was the founder and director of the Georgetown International Economics Seminar.Since arriving in Washington, D.C., Dr. Ludema has held several visiting positions in government and academia. He served as the Senior International Economist at the Council of Economic Advisers in the Executive Office of the President (2012-2013). He co-authored the International Trade and Competitiveness chapter of the 2013 Economic Report of the President along with Sue Helper. Previously, he served as visiting scholar at the U.S. International Trade Commission (2001-2002), where he provided key economic analysis for World Trade Organization dispute settlement and trade remedy cases, notably the 2002 safeguard action on steel. He has also taught as a visiting professor at Princeton University and the Universities of Maryland and British Columbia. He was an assistant professor of economics at the University of Western Ontario prior to assuming his professorship at Georgetown University.Ludema received a B.A. in Economics from Calvin College and M.A., M.Phil. and Ph.D. degrees from Columbia University, New York.

Rodney D. Ludema, Ph.D. joined the U.S. State Department as Chief Economist on July 14, 2014. He is taking leave from Georgetown University, where he has been a professor in both the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service and the Department of Economics since 1995. The Chief Economist has a rank administratively equivalent to an Assistant Secretary of State and reports to the Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy and the Environment.

Dr. Ludema has published extensively on international economics. His research and publications have focused on international trade policy and institutions, international political economy, tax competition, economic geography, and the nexus of trade and the environment. His research has been supported by the National Science Foundation, presented widely at conferences and seminars, including the National Bureau of Economic Research, and published in leading economic journals. He also serves as an associate editor of the Journal of International Economics and was the founder and director of the Georgetown International Economics Seminar.

Since arriving in Washington, D.C., Dr. Ludema has held several visiting positions in government and academia. He served as the Senior International Economist at the Council of Economic Advisers in the Executive Office of the President (2012-2013). He co-authored the International Trade and Competitiveness chapter of the 2013 Economic Report of the President along with Sue Helper. Previously, he served as visiting scholar at the U.S. International Trade Commission (2001-2002), where he provided key economic analysis for World Trade Organization dispute settlement and trade remedy cases, notably the 2002 safeguard action on steel. He has also taught as a visiting professor at Princeton University and the Universities of Maryland and British Columbia. He was an assistant professor of economics at the University of Western Ontario prior to assuming his professorship at Georgetown University.

Ludema received a B.A. in Economics from Calvin College and M.A., M.Phil. and Ph.D. degrees from Columbia University, New York.