Fellows Program

A community of experts

The Fellows Program is integral to achieving the TIAA Institute’s mission. Institute Fellows are nationally recognized scholars and higher education administrators with deep expertise in the areas of financial security (including lifetime income and retirement security, retirement plan design, and financial literacy and capability) and higher education leadership (including innovation and financial sustainability, academic workforce trends, and institutional governance and risk management). Membership in the program is by invitation.

The role of a Fellow

The Institute places a premium on rigorous research that addresses critical issues impacting individuals and institutions. We also prize effective communication of the knowledge created by our research. To these ends, Fellows:

• Conduct Institute-sponsored research and write related reports
• Draft thought leadership whitepapers published by the Institute
• Speak at Institute symposia and forums, and sometimes partner with us to organize them
• Suggest ideas for future research studies and convenings
• Serve as judges for Institute-sponsored awards

New Fellows Recently Added

We are pleased to welcome to our Fellows Program eight noted experts in financial security, higher education and endowments and foundations:

• Vickie Bajtelsmit, professor of finance, Colorado State University
• Rich Ekman, president emeritus, Council of Independent Colleges
• Roger W. Ferguson, Jr., past president and CEO, TIAA
• Camelia Kuhnen, professor of finance, University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill
• Lee Lockwood, associate professor of economics, University of Virginia
• Anita Mukherjee, assistant professor of risk and insurance, University of Wisconsin – Madison
• Sita Slavov, professor, George Mason University
• Carly Urban, associate professor of economics, Montana State University

Fellows Emeriti