Description

Join us at ETEC in-person or virtually on Friday, August 8, 2025, at 7:30am to hear from Marianne Wanamaker, Professor of Economics and Dean of the Baker School of Public Policy and Public Affairs. Her bio is below. 

The title of her presentation is: A Tennessee Economic Update. 
Description: The last 5 years have brought intense economic disruption to the world economy. How has Tennessee fared? What will be the key drivers of our state's economy going forward? And what do we need our policymakers to do to ensure rising incomes in Tennessee? Dr. Wanamaker will share an overview of the state's economic situation and prospects for future growth.

No registration is necessary for in-person attendance.

Register in advance for the VIRTUAL #ETEConline meeting here: https://tennessee.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUrd-CgrDMiHNTsDsHqH0FyubCh2ys57LzH#/registration 

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Visit the Find Us page for the meeting location, address, and map.

Marianne Wanamaker 
Professor of Economics and Dean of the 
Baker School of Public Policy and Public Affairs

Short Bio: 

Marianne Wanamaker is the dean of the University of Tennessee’s Howard H. Baker Jr. School of Public Policy and Public Affairs and a professor of economics and public policy. She is a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, and a research fellow at the Institute of Labor Economics (IZA) and at the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa. Dr. Wanamaker is the former chief domestic economist at the White House Council of Economic Advisors, where she also served as the senior labor economist. She is a former member of the Federal Workforce Policy Advisory Board and a former associate consultant for Bain & Company in Boston, Massachusetts.

Dr. Wanamaker’s expertise is in labor economics, education, and workforce development. Her work has been widely referenced in the popular press, including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post and supported by multiple federal agencies, including the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health. In addition to her research record, Dr. Wanamaker has been the recipient of several college and university-level teaching awards, including UT’s Alexander Prize in 2019. In 2017, she was named to Poets and Quants Top 40 Undergraduate Professors.

She serves on the board of Zoo Knoxville and at ThinkWhy, a Dallas-based labor market data startup. She is a director of 3 Roots Capital, a certified CDFI, and is an economic advisor to the Economic Innovation Group, a Washington, DC think tank.

Dr. Wanamaker is a 2001 summa cum laude graduate of Vanderbilt University, where she was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. She completed her masters degree and PhD at Northwestern University in 2009 and has been on faculty at the University of Tennessee ever since. She is a native of Martin, Tennessee.

This month's ETEC Friday Morning Meeting Series are sponsored by Materials and Chemistry Laboratory, Inc.