Benjamin F. Jones is the Gordon and Llura Gund Family Professor of Entrepreneurship, a professor of strategy, and the faculty director of the Kellogg Innovation and Entrepreneurship Initiative at Northwestern University.
An economist by training, Jones studies global economic development, including the roles of education, climate, and national leadership in explaining the wealth and poverty of nations. His research also focuses on economic growth in advanced economies, with an emphasis on innovation, entrepreneurship, and scientific progress. His research has appeared in journals such as Science, the Quarterly Journal of Economics and the American Economic Review, and has been profiled in media outlets such as the Wall Street Journal, the Economist, and The New Yorker.
A former Rhodes Scholar, Jones served in 2010-2011 as the senior economist for macroeconomics for the White House Council of Economic Advisers and earlier served in the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Jones is a research associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
-
Current Positions
- Gordon and Llura Gund Family Professor in Entrepreneurship Professor of Strategy, Kellogg School of Management (2014-Present)
- Faculty Director, Kellogg Innovation and Entrepreneurship Initiative (2013-Present)
- Research Associate, National Bureau of Economic Research (2012-Present)
- Associate Editor, Journal of Development Economics (2010-Present)
-
Past Positions
- Associate Dean, Innovation and Impact, Kellogg School of Management (2017-2018)
- Senior Economist for Macroeconomics, White House Council of Economic Advisers (2010-2011)
- Special Assistant to Lawrence H. Summers, U.S. Department of the Treasury (1997-1998)
-
Education
- Ph.D. in Economics, MIT (2003)
- M.Phil. in Economics, Oxford University (1997)
- B.S.E. in Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University (1995)