July 31, 2026
Dear Colleagues,
I am pleased to announce that I have appointed Marla Ripoll to serve as Interim Dean of the School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA), effective at the start of the fall 2026 semester.
Marla is an outstanding scholar and a highly respected member of our faculty. She is a Professor of Economics and serves as Core Faculty in both the Center for Latin American Studies and the Global Studies Program. She was chair of the Department of Economics from September 2021 to September 2024, and Director of Graduate Studies from September 2013 to December 2016. Marla received the Tina & David Bellet Arts and Sciences Teaching Excellence Award in 2004, and the Chancellor's Distinguished Teaching Award in 2009.
A recognized leader in her field, Marla serves as Associate Editor of the Journal of Macroeconomics, is a member of the Advisory Board of the Carnegie-Rochester-NYU Conference, and contributes to both the Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Group and the Economics Research Network of the Central Bank of Colombia.
Her research bridges macroeconomics, development economics, and demographics. In development economics, she studies what drives cross-country differences in schooling, fertility, and life expectancy, along with how international trade shapes productivity and economic outcomes. Her demographic research covers fertility choice, investment in children, intergenerational transfers, social mobility, and the economic value of life. Her work has appeared in leading journals including the Review of Economic Studies, the Journal of Monetary Economics, the International Economic Review, the Economic Journal, and the Review of Economics and Statistics.
Marla earned her Bachelor of Arts from the Universidad Nacional de Colombia and her PhD from the University of Rochester.
In the coming days, I will also name and charge a working group that will be composed of faculty, staff, students, alumni, and other stakeholders to assess the school's strengths and opportunities and to develop recommendations to help inform SPIA's future direction. The group's work will help ensure that SPIA is well positioned to build on its many strengths.
I thank Marla for her willingness to provide thoughtful and steady leadership during this interim period, and I look forward to working with her as we continue to support SPIA's important role within the University.
Regards,
Joseph J. McCarthy
Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor
William Kepler Whiteford Professor
University of Pittsburgh