Faculty by courtesy

Melvin Stephens

Professor of Public Policy; Professor of Economics; Faculty Associate, Population Studies Center; Faculty Associate, Survey Research Center

Mel Stephens is professor of economics, with a courtesy appointment at the Ford School. He serves as a research affiliate at the Population Studies Center and a faculty associate at the Survey Research Center, both within the Institute for Social Research. Stephens is also affiliated with the National Bureau of Economic Research where he is currently a research associate. He has previously served as a member of the Academic Research Council at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Stephens is a labor economist whose current research interests include consumption and savings, aging and retirement, education, the impact of local labor market fluctuations on household outcomes, and applied econometrics. He received his BA in economics and mathematics from the University of Maryland and his PhD in economics from the University of Michigan.

Educational background

PhD Economics, University of Michigan (1998)
BA Economics and Mathematics, University of Maryland (1992)