Greg Hess


Gregory D. Hess is an American economist, college administrator, and the president of Wabash College. Hess served as professor of economics, dean of the faculty, and vice president of academic affairs at Claremont McKenna College prior to his appointment at Wabash College.

Early life and career

A native of San Francisco, Hess received an undergraduate degree at the University of California, Davis, followed by master's and doctoral degrees at Johns Hopkins University.
Hess was a visiting scholar at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland and an economist for the Federal Reserve Board of Governors in Washington, D.C. He was later the dean of faculty and vice president for academic affairs at Claremont McKenna College and named the James G. Boswell Professor of Economics at the college in 2011. He was named president of Wabash College in July 2013.
Hess serves as book review editor of the journal Macroeconomic Dynamics. He is on the editorial board of Economics & Politics. Hess co-edited a book, Intranational Macroeconomics; two editions have been published. He is a member on the Shadow Open Market Committee and a fellow at the Center for Economic Studies.

President of Wabash College

On July 1, 2013, Hess was inaugurated as the next president of the college, following the departure of Patrick E. White. Hess delivered his inaugural address, stating,
Our true academic mission — to liberally educate each and every student — is a timeless reminder of the lives we change here at Wabash College, one young man at a time. For while the problems facing higher education and the world are complex, the solutions need not be. Amidst the jostle and the fray and the haranguing static and noise that often surround our academic endeavor, stands our foundation: the simple gifts of the liberal arts. These profound gifts — the ability to act, to see, and to speak — are the bedrock that underpin teaching and learning at Wabash College.

Hess proposed a strategic planning process and in doing so created four new co-curricular initiatives called Liberal Arts Plus: Wabash Democracy and Public Discourse initiative, Global Health Initiative, Center for Innovation, Business, and Entrepreneurship, and Digital Arts and Human Values. Hess formalized an agreement between Wabash and Universidad Nacional Hermilio Valdizan on future health research and projects. Hess also went on to create a campus master planning process that will guide capital works projects at the college and join the Board of Directors of the Montgomery County Economic Development Council.
On November 4, 2013, Hess joined the Freedom Indiana coalition in opposition to Indiana HJR-3 with DePauw University President Brian Casey.
On September 17, 2014, Hess organized and hosted Celebrating the Liberal Arts, a national conference which highlighted the work of the Center of Inquiry in the Liberal Arts at Wabash College and the results of the Wabash National Study of Liberal Arts Education.
On March 10, 2020, Hess announced he would be stepping down as President of Wabash College at the end of the academic year.

President and CEO of IES Abroad

In March 2020, Hess was named as the next President and CEO of IES Abroad.

Publications

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