Dana P. Goldman
Dean and C. Erwin and Ione L. Piper Chair, Sol Price School of Public Policy;
Distinguished Professor of Public Policy, Pharmacy, and Economics;
Co-Director, Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics,
University of Southern California

Can you briefly introduce yourself?

I am a health economist who likes to dabble in policy issues in which I have no expertise. This makes me perfectly suited to be a dean.

Why public service?

I became interested in economics in the 1980s, when economists like former Federal Reserve Chair Paul Volcker bravely tackled “stagflation”. I saw how far-sighted policy can transform people’s lives. More recently, the COVID-19 pandemic made tangible how public service directly impacts people’s lives and the importance of changing course based on new evidence.

What excites you about becoming an Academy Fellow?

Are there t-shirts?

Seriously, though, NAPA has always played a central role in shaping public administration—it’s an honor to be included with so many changemakers in the field.

Do you have any fun facts?

I learned to drive in the 1970s on an early electric vehicle (a prototype that never made it to market).