Chatterji and Wachter Take Leave for Posts at Commerce and SEC

Two NBER research associates have been tapped for economic leadership positions in major federal agencies. Aaron "Ronnie" Chatterji, an affiliate of the Productivity, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship Program, is the new chief economist of the US Department of Commerce. Jessica Wachter, an affiliate of the Asset Pricing Program, is serving as chief economist and director of the Division of Economic and Risk Analysis at the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Chatterji is the Mark Burgess and Lisa Benson-Burgess Distinguished Professor of Business and Public Policy at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. Wachter holds the Bruce I. Jacobs Chair in Quantitative Finance at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.

Both researchers will be on leave from the NBER for the duration of their government service.