Vitae

Short Bio

Serdar Ozkan is a Senior Economic Policy Advisor at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, where he has been working since August 2021. He is also an Associate Professor (Status-only) in the Department of Economics at the University of Toronto. His research agenda examines the determinants and consequences of inequality in earnings, wealth, health, and broader macroeconomic outcomes. It focuses on heterogeneity across households and firms, as well as on how institutions and public policy shape the dynamics of inequality. In his research Dr. Ozkan uses large-scale micro data and employs machine learning techniques. His papers have been published in Econometrica, Journal of Political Economy, Review of Economic Studies, Journal of Monetary Economics, Journal of European Economic Association, and Quantitative Economics, among others. 

Dr. Ozkan held full-time or visiting positions at the Federal Reserve Board, the University of Toronto, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, and Stanford University before joining the St. Louis Fed. He is an Associate Editor for Review of Economic Dynamics and a CESifo Research Network Member.  Dr. Ozkan has received numerous awards and grants for his research, including a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship from the European Union and multiple grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. 

Ozkan earned his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania in 2011. He also holds an an M.Sc. in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research from the University of Texas at Austin, and a B.Sc. in Industrial Engineering from Bogazici University in Turkey. 

As a respected voice in his field, Dr. Ozkan is frequently invited to present his research at top universities and central banks worldwide. His expertise in macroeconomics and policy analysis makes him a valuable contributor to economic policy discussions and academic research alike. Over the past few years, Dr. Ozkan's work has been covered by major media outlets, including the New York Times, Washington Post, CNBC, Bloomberg, CNN, Forbes, and Business Insider further cementing his status as a leading expert in economic analysis and policy implications.