• June 20, 2006

  Economics professor named director of Iowa State's Institute of Science and Society

  
  
• John Miranowski, professor of economics at Iowa State University, has been named director of the Institute of Science and Society.
  
  That announcement was made today by Michael Whiteford, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Miranowski replaces Yong Lee, professor of political science, who recently retired from Iowa State.
  
  Whiteford also announced that for the next three years, the Institute of Science and Society will focus its efforts on water quality issues for Iowa and the nation.
  
  A former chair of the Department of Economics, Miranowski joined the Iowa State faculty in 1975. He was the director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Resource and Technology Division from 1984-95 where he developed, led, staffed and managed a $12 million policy research and analysis program in environmental, resource and technology economics. In 1990 and 1991, he served the executive coordinator of the USDA's Policy Coordination Council and special assistant to the Deputy Secretary of Agriculture.
  
  His fields of interest include natural resources and the environment, health and risk assessment, and productivity analysis. Miranowski holds a bachelor's degree from Iowa State and master's and Ph.D. degrees from Harvard.
  
  The Institute of Science and Society encourages interdisciplinary working groups on a number of issues related to science and technology, including environmental issues, science communication and ethical issues. While continuing to work broadly to raise the visibility of interdisciplinary research involving the social sciences, the Institute of Science and Society will focus more explicitly on water quality issues and closely related environmental issues over the next three years.
  
  More than 90 faculty members from 15 different academic departments are affiliated with the Institute in a variety of academic disciplines.
  

John Miranowski