Lowell’s primary responsibility at NORC is as Principal Investigator of the National Longitudinal Study of Youth 1997 (NLSY97), a national large-scale longitudinal survey sponsored and funded by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) of the U.S. Department of Labor. The NLSY97 is the most recent of the surveys that comprise the broader National Longitudinal Surveys (NLS) Program, which has been gathering information relevant to labor market experiences of U.S. cohorts since 1966. NLS data have been used by leading scholars to produce an extraordinary body of impactful research in economics, sociology, demography, developmental psychology, and social policy.
Lowell is the H. John Heinz III Professor of Economics at the Heinz College of Carnegie Mellon University. His research spans a broad set of topics in labor economics, health economics, and economic demography. This work has been published in leading scholarly journals, including the American Economic Review, Quarterly Journal of Economics, Journal of Political Economy, and Demography. His research also includes methodological contributions, published in such outlets as the Journal of the American Statistical Association and Psychometrica.
In 2000, Lowell served as Senior Economist for President Clinton’s Council of Economic Advisers. He has received two major awards in health economics, the 20th Annual Arrow in Health Economics (2012) and the 11th Annual Health Care Research Award (2004), and he is a four-time recipient of the Martcia Wade Award for Teaching Excellence (1994, 2004, 2007 and 2021). In 2018 he was awarded a University Professorship at Carnegie Mellon University.
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Education
PhD
University of Michigan
MA
University of Michigan
MA
University of Michigan
BA
Andrews University
Appointments & Affiliations
H. John Heinz III Professor of Economics
Carnegie Mellon University
Research Associate
National Bureau of Economic Research
Research Fellow
IZA Institute for the Study of Labor
Honors & Awards
Martcia Wade Award for Teaching Excellence | 1994, 2004, 2007, 2021
Carnegie Mellon University
20th Annual Arrow in Health Economics | 2012
International Health Economics Association
11th Annual Health Care Research Award | 2004
National Institute for Health Care Management (NIHCM) Foundation
Senior Economist | 2000
President Clinton’s Council of Economic Advisers
Project Contributions
Publications
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opens in new tab"The Impact of Female Teachers on Female Students' Lifetime Well-Being."
Working Paper | September 15, 2022
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opens in new tab"Driving Low-Income Mothers to Greater Success: The Impact of Ridehailing on Income and Employment."
Project Report | April 1, 2021
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opens in new tab"Can Ridesharing Help the Disadvantaged Get Moving?"
Project Report | August 4, 2020
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opens in new tab"The Methuselah Effect: The Pernicious Impact of Unreported Deaths on Old-Age Mortality Estimates."
Journal Article | December 4, 2017
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opens in new tab"Combining Forward and Backward Mortality Estimation."
Journal Article | June 23, 2017
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opens in new tab"Does Affirmative Action Work?: Caste, Gender, College Quality, and Academic Success in India."
Journal Article | August 4, 2016
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opens in new tab"The Effect of Early-Life Education on Later-Life Mortality."
Journal Article | September 10, 2015
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opens in new tab"Empirical Evidence in the Study of Labor Markets: Opportunities and Challenges for a New Household Survey."
Journal Article | July 22, 2015