On October 15, 2026, the Regents of the University of Michigan approved the appointment of Catherine Hausman as the inaugural Lenore K. and Robert Damrauer Professor of Social Policy at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy. She will give the inaugural Lenore K. and Robert Damrauer lecture on April 5, 2027.
With a commitment from Hal and Carol Kohn through the Kohn Charitable Trust and an additional gift from an anonymous alumni donor, the Ford School established the Lenore K. and Robert Damrauer Professorship of Social Policy to contribute to policies and actions that advance sound U.S. environmental policies.
The Damrauers were University of Michigan graduates who possessed a great love of nature and were committed to improving and protecting the environment and were aware of its progressive destruction by mismanagement and climate change.
Hausman is a leading scholar whose work examines pressing issues in the clean energy transition, including electricity transmission, ancillary service markets, air pollution, and the distributional impacts of energy costs. As an economist and sought-after expert, she has advanced the understanding of how energy market design and regulation affect welfare, equity, and environmental outcomes, and her work has informed legislation and regulatory rulemaking.
"Environmental policy is more important than ever," said Hausman. "Protecting the outdoor areas that inspire us, keeping our air and water clean and safe, and halting climate change are all tremendous challenges. I'm grateful for the expanded opportunities that this professorship can bring to my research and teaching and to the work of the Ford School."
Hausman's scholarship has been published in leading journals, including the American Economic Review, The RAND Journal of Economics, the Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and Brookings Papers on Economic Activity.
At the Ford School, Hausman has taught core statistics, energy and climate policy, government regulation, and the PhD policy research seminar. She redesigned the statistics curriculum to make it more relevant and accessible for policy students. She also helped launch the Ford School's new online MPA program and led the creation of an environment, energy, and policy concentration for master's students.
She holds a BA from the University of Minnesota and a PhD in Agricultural and Resource Economics from the University of California, Berkeley.
About the Kohn Collaborative for Social Policy
Since 2018, Hal and Carol Kohn and the Kohn Charitable Trust have committed a total of $22 million to the Ford School to establish the Kohn Collaborative for Social Policy, a hub that catalyzes interdisciplinary research and policy impact to promote social equity and inclusion for all U.S. residents. The collaborative consists of four pillars: Kohn Professors, Kohn Scholars, policy impact, and the Kohn Prize.
