May 31, 2022
Contact: Louisa Tavlas
ltavlas@niskanencenter.org

WASHINGTON D.C, May 31, 2022—The Niskanen Center’s Board of Directors is pleased to announce that it has named Ted Gayer as its new President, effective August 2022. 

“Our board of directors is thrilled to welcome a well-recognized leader of Ted’s caliber to guide the Niskanen Center,” says Bob Litterman, Niskanen Board Chair and the founding partner of Kepos Capital. “He is a widely respected economist with a clear vision and extensive experience working in this space. We are confident his knowledge and expertise will help the Niskanen Center transition into the next phase of its success.”

“While we were overwhelmed with the quantity and quality of the applicants for the position, it was immediately evident that Ted’s leadership skills, expertise, and deep policy knowledge aligned closely with the Niskanen Center’s work and mission,” says Daniel Drezner, chair of the search committee and professor of international politics at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. “As we look to the future, we are confident that Ted is the right person to lead Niskanen and carry on our legacy of providing the highest quality of policy work.” 

“I am honored that the Niskanen Center’s Board and staff have entrusted me to lead an organization that has quickly become a center of policy influence and is dedicated to the values of an open society,” says Gayer. “Niskanen is a vibrant, young institution that provides a new ideological lens grounded in reliance on functioning free markets and effective government policies, working closely with a broad range of political actors to advance social welfare and economic opportunity. I’m grateful for the opportunity to lead it.”

Gayer has served as executive vice president of the Brookings Institution since 2018, after five years as vice president and director of the Economic Studies program. His background includes extensive experience in academia, government, and public policy organizations. Before joining Brookings in 2009, he was an associate professor of public policy at Georgetown University. From 2007 to 2008, he was deputy assistant secretary for economic policy at the Department of the Treasury. He has also served as a senior economist at the President’s Council of Economic Advisers.

Gayer holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in Economics from Duke University, and a B.A. in Mathematics/Economics from Emory University.

The Niskanen Center is a 501(c)(3) advocacy organization established in 2014 that works to change public policy through direct engagement in the policymaking process.

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