Jennifer Gerner
Professor
2007
PAMWeb Bio Page
Current Activities
Current Research Activities
1. I am examining the effects of policy concerning early childhood education, such as age at which children can enroll in kindergarten or the provision of universal pre-kindergarten education, on outcomes in school, such as test scores and school performance.
Biography
Biographical Statement
Jennifer Gerner is a professor in the Department of Policy Analysis and Management. She joined the Cornell faculty in 1974 after receiving her Ph.D in economics from The University of Wisconsin—Madison. Her research focuses on the role of family characteristics and family disruption in outcomes for children. She has examined the different college choices made by students from single parent families in contrast to those made by students from two parent families. She has also examined how compulsory education laws affect age at enrollment for young children and how age at enrollment, in turn, affects subsequent performance in school. She spent a year at the University of Chicago. She was Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in the College of Human Ecology at Cornell from 1994 to 2004. Currently she teaches Introduction to Policy Analysis and Economics and Consumer Law in the spring semester and the Honors Seminar in the fall. She is also a Faculty Fellow in Becker House, and Chair of the University's Institution Review Board for Human Participants.
Administrative Responsibilities
During 2006 I have been the Chair of the University Committee on Human Subjects (about to be renamed, the Institutional Review Board for Human Participants), as well as Chair of the North Campus and College Town Council, and Chair of Registrar's Roles and Responsibilities Committee, a committee set up to advise Susan Murphy.
Courses, Websites, Pubs
Courses Taught
PAM 377, Family Policy, Fall 2007, 40 students
PAM 341, Economics and Consumer Law, Spring 2007, 50 students
PAM 230, Introduction to Policy Analysis, Spring 2007
80 students
Related Websites
Curriculum Vitae
Publications
J. Gerner and D. Lillard, forthcoming. Does it Take Two Parents to Go to the Ivy League.
J. Gerner and Catherine Montaldo. 1998. The Effect of Expected Changes in Marital Status on Labor Supply Decisions.