Maxwell’s Alexander Rothenberg Honored With Moynihan Award for Teaching and Research

Alexander Rothenberg, assistant professor of economics in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, is this year’s recipient of the Daniel Patrick Moynihan Award for Teaching and Research, the highest honor the Maxwell School offers to untenured faculty. The award will be presented at the school’s Graduate Convocation on Friday, May 12, with Rothenberg as the featured speaker.

Rothenberg

The Moynihan Award is given annually in recognition of an outstanding record of teaching, research and service. It was established eponymously in 1985 by then-U.S. Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, who was also a former member of Maxwell’s junior faculty.

Rothenberg joined Maxwell in 2018 after serving as an economist at the RAND Corporation in Washington, D.C., as well as a professor at the Pardee RAND Graduate School.

He is a senior research associate in the Center for Policy Research. His research focuses on the effects of urban transport policies on commuting outcomes in Jakarta, Indonesia; long-term growth and development outcomes in Indonesia’s outer islands; the impacts of rural migration programs on diversity and identity; and how transport improvements affect firm entry and employment. His work has been published in such journals as the American Economic Review, the Economic Journal and the Journal of Urban Economics. He received a Ph.D. in economics from the University of California, Berkeley in 2012.

In his nomination letter, Professor and Chair of Economics Devashish Mitra wrote that in his 21 years with Syracuse University, he has “never seen an assistant professor who has been such a successful main advisor on doctoral dissertations.”

“Alex’s service record as an assistant professor is also unparalleled,” says Mitra, also Gerald B. and Daphna Cramer Professor of Global Affairs, noting that he served on the international trade search committee that Mitra chaired, making “very substantive contributions as a search committee member.”

Mitra also noted that Rothenberg has co-organized the department’s seminar series and regularly referees for top field and general-interest journals. “Alex is a truly outstanding scholar, an excellent teacher and advisor and a truly exceptional department citizen, who consistently provides valuable service to the department and the academic economics profession at large,” he says.

Story by Jewell Bohlinger