In addition to winning the Doug Purvis Memorial Prize, Philip Oreopoulos’ outstanding abilities have also been recognized in other ways – with an appointment as special advisor and the award of the title of Distinguished Professor.
March of 2020 saw him appointed as Special Advisor on Economics of Higher Education to the Faculty of Arts & Science Dean. Professor Oreopoulos brings almost two decades of relevant research experience to this role. He has published widely in the top economics journals on a variety of topics pertaining to post-secondary education, including several widely cited papers based on experimental evidence of the determinants of student success at the University of Toronto. Professor Oreopoulos’ research is characterized by a strong emphasis on research design and experimental validity. This reinforces the Faculty’s objective of both innovating on the basis of the best existing evidence and building experimental assessment into the design of initiatives that support student success.
As Special Advisor, Professor Oreopoulos will provide advice to the Dean, and the Faculty of Arts & Science more broadly, on matters pertaining to evidence-based determinants of undergraduate student success, especially drawing on insights and evidence from the economics of higher education, and related disciplines. The focus this year will be a review of the determinants of academic success in the early years, including an assessment of student admissions and recruitment.
In July, he received the University of Toronto’s Distinguished Professor Award, bestowed on faculty with highly distinguished accomplishments and exceptional promise. The award is for a five-year term from July 1, 2020 to June 20, 2025, and Oreopoulos will hold the title of Distinguished Professor in Economics of Education Policy. The award includes $15,000 in research funds annually for the duration of the term.
→ Read a summary of Professor Oreopoulos’s achievements and research
