Orazio Attanasio and Rachel Griffith appointed as IFS Research Directors

Orazio Attanasio and Rachel Griffith have been appointed as research directors of the IFS. 

Orazio is Professor of Economics at University College London, where he is currently head of department. He has been involved with research at the Institute since 1995, where he now co-directs the Centre for the Evaluation of Development Policies (EDePo) and the ESRC Centre for the Microeconomic Analysis of Public Policy.

Rachel is Professor of Economics at the University of Manchester and has been involved with IFS research since 1993, where she now co-directs the ESRC Centre for the Microeconomic Analysis of Public Policy. She was awarded a CBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List 2015 and the Birgit Grodal Award in 2014.

Richard Blundell, who has served a Research Director since 1986, is stepping down from this role, but will still make an important contribution to the research programme at IFS and will continue as director of the ESRC Centre for the Microeconomic Analysis of Public Policy at IFS.

Paul Johnson, IFS Director, said: "We are delighted that Rachel Griffith and Orazio Attanasio are taking on these key roles at IFS. They are intellectual leaders in their fields and will make a vital contribution to the cutting-edge research which underpins our success. I would like to thank Richard for the great work that he has done over many years at IFS and look forward to his continued involvement in our research programme."