The Jerry Ellig Memorial Fund for Applied Policy Analysis
Dr. Jerry Ellig was a research professor in the George Washington University Regulatory Studies Center. His untimely death in January 2021 was not only a great loss for his friends and colleagues but also the general public who never knew him but were the beneficiaries of his insightful contributions to public policy and administration. Jerry was a wonderful colleague, brilliant scholar, generous mentor, and dear friend. His friendly and upbeat personality endeared him to all who were fortunate to meet him. He joined the GW Regulatory Studies Center in 2018, after serving for a year as chief economist at the Federal Communications Commission. His illustrious career included teaching at George Mason University, serving as a senior scholar at the Mercatus Center, and holding several senior positions in the legislative and executive branches of the federal government.
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About the Fund
To honor Jerry’s inspirational legacy, we are establishing The Jerry Ellig Memorial Fund for Applied Policy Analysis.
Jerry was a PhD economist who was particularly gifted at applying economic concepts and empirical analysis to improve public policy, a true "evidence-based policy" expert. He had several stints in government agencies, applying his academic tools to real policy problems (and later returning to academia to write about what he learned).
He was a wonderful mentor, and many of his peer-reviewed publications were with graduate students and junior colleagues. In addition, Jerry was a great communicator, able to take his academic work and translate it for different audiences, including through seminars, op-eds, short presentations, and classroom teaching.
Though immensely talented, Jerry was also genuinely kind, humble, and funny. He seemed to think less of his own stature than supporting the needs of the organization, which is part of what made him such an amazing colleague and mentor.
The Jerry Ellig Memorial Fund for Applied Policy Analysis will honor Jerry’s legacy and contributions and support applied policy scholarship in three main ways:
- A conference or series of conferences that convene senior and junior researchers in academia and government to share and discuss applied research on regulatory policy and practice.
- A commemorative volume that compiles his most significant writings.
- A recurring prize at the Society for Benefit-Cost Analysis Annual Conference for the best graduate student paper that applies economic, law, political science, policy analysis, and/or public administration concepts to real policy problems.
Contribute to the Jerry Ellig Memorial Fund
