Home Nonprofit & Education Education Friedman named Brown University Watson School’s inaugural dean

Friedman named Brown University Watson School’s inaugural dean

By

James Bessette

-

04/21/2025

John-Friedman — JOHN N. FRIEDMAN has been named the inaugural dean of Brown University's new Thomas J. Watson Jr. School of International and Public Affairs. / COURTESY BROWN UNIVERSITY

PROVIDENCE – Brown University’s new Thomas J. Watson Jr. School of International and Public Affairs now has its inaugural dean. The Ivy League institution announced Monday that John N. Friedman has been named the Watson School’s first-ever dean. Friedman, a Brown faculty member since 2015, is described by Brown as an economics and international and

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PROVIDENCE – Brown University’s new Thomas J. Watson Jr. School of International and Public Affairs now has its inaugural dean. The Ivy League institution announced Monday that John N. Friedman has been named the Watson School’s first-ever dean. Friedman, a Brown faculty member since 2015, is described by Brown as an economics and international and public affairs scholar and leading researcher on social mobility, education and policymaking. The Watson School will open on July 1. The school merged its Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs into it and serve as home for Brown’s Master of Public Affairs program as well as Brown’s undergraduate concentration in international and public affairs. Brown said Friedman served chairperson of the university’s economics department 2021 to 2024. During his tenure, the department saw its scholarship offerings expand and its tenure-stream faculty grow by 30%. Friedman also spent a year at the White House on the National Economic Council, Brown said. Now, Friedman will lead the new Watson School and its offerings for both graduate and undergraduate students, Brown says. In a statement, Friedman said the new school offers a “once-in-a-generation opportunity” to build an interdisciplinary community of scholars, students and practitioners at Brown to address the world’s most pressing issues in international and public affairs. “Innovation comes from combining different perspectives in novel ways, and the collaborative spirit that is so present at Brown will enable the essential exchange of ideas and create pathways for scholars to step outside of their disciplinary environments,” Friedman said. “This cooperative ethos is embedded at Brown, which is the ideal environment to create this new community of scholars and learning.” James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at Bessette@PBN.com. You may also follow him on X at @James_Bessette.