UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON ARCHIVES
ORAL HISTORY PROJECT

Interview #783
WOLFE, BARBARA L.

WOLFE, Barbara L. (1943- )
Professor of Economics, Population Health Sciences, and Public Affairs; Director, LaFollette School of Public Affairs; Faculty Affiliate and Former Director, Institute for Research on Poverty
At UW: 1976-

Interviewed: 2006	
Interviewer: Sandy Pfahler
Length: 1 hour, 16 minutes

Family background; Early education; Cornell; Economic Growth Center; Graduate study in economics at Penn; Research; Institute for Research on Poverty; Department of Preventive Medicine; Research; Tenure process; Teaching; LaFollette School for Public Affairs; Athletic Board; Professional service activities; State government committees; Campus climate for women; Honors and awards; Family.

Interview Session (July 7, 2006): Tapes 1-2

Tape 1/Side 1

00:00:47	Barbara Wolfe was born in Philadelphia in 1943.  Her parents were refugees from Germany.

00:01:23	She talks about her early education.

00:02:39	Before BW was born her mother designed clothes.  Her father started his own business.

00:04:28	She wanted to go away to college and chose to attend Cornell.

00:07:02	BW thought she would major in psychology.

00:07:33	Her parents helped pay for college.  During summers she worked in bookkeeping jobs.

00:08:29	She majored in economics and minored in political science.

00:09:55	After receiving her degree she worked in the Economic Growth Center at Yale.  There BW worked under a woman who became an influential mentor to her.

00:12:05	She describes her graduate study in economics at the University of Pennsylvania.  She had her first child during her first year of graduate school.

00:14:40	She studied industrial organization and economic demography.  She completed her PhD in 1973.

00:15:12	BW got a job as an assistant professor at Bryn Mawr.  At the same time she was working on a project at the Federal Reserve Bank on whether school resources matter.

00:19:32	She won a grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Development (NICHD).

00:20:42	She came to the University of Wisconsin as a research associate at the Institute for Research on Poverty.  While she was a research associate she applied for and took a tenure-track position.  She had come to Madison as a single mother with two children.

00:22:01	First impressions of UW, particularly as compared with Ivy League schools.

00:24:13	She was hired as an assistant professor in the department of preventive medicine (now the department of population sciences).

00:25:06	BW studied outcomes for women and their children in Nicaragua.  The NICHD, USAID, and Ford Foundation funded this project.

00:29:03	Her subsequent research focuses on human capital: education, health care coverage, disabilities, and retirement.

00:30:12	BW discusses her research on the economics of disability.

00:31:26	End of side.  

Tape 1/Side 2

00:31:36	Barbara Wolfe continues to discuss her research on the economics of disability, and particularly on the supposed generosity of social security programs.

00:32:07	She has also studied how to promote the economic well-being of persons with disabilities.

00:32:28	BW served on a committee to recommend how to revamp Supplemental Security Insurance for children with disabilities.

00:32:47	Her recent project studies individuals who drop out of the labor force.

00:33:34	BW was involved in a Russell Sage Foundation initiative to study the consequences of increasing wealth inequality; she studied whether there would be more inequality in schooling and health.

00:35:08	She wants to bring together scientists and economists in studying the relationship between income and health.

00:37:44	BW also studies welfare reform and programs such as Badger Care.

00:37:44	Her research is generally funded by foundations.

00:39:38	BW has joint tenure in the departments of economics and population health.  She talks about her tenure process.

00:40:55	She discusses networking with other researchers on campus.

00:43:29	The Institute for Research on Poverty was initially unique to Wisconsin.  There are now four poverty centers funded by the Department of Health and Human Services.

00:44:43	BW enjoys training graduate students in a program supported by a training grant in health economics.

00:45:22	She talks about teaching undergraduates.

00:46:53	She talks about writing and publishing.

00:47:58	BW doesn’t enjoy her public speaking activities.

00:48:39	Administrative jobs allow her to create opportunities for people.  

00:49:55	BW relates the history of the LaFollette School for Public Affairs.  She sat on the committee that decided to create a public policy institute in Madison.  Initially the School was not a tenure-granting unit.

00:51:54	Cluster hires have enabled the School to grow.

00:52:58	The School offers a master’s in public affairs and international public affairs.

00:53:42	Selection process for the directorship.

00:54:11	BW served on the Athletic Board for seven years.  Much of her time was concerned with determining eligibility.

00:57:11	She lists other professional service activities with the American Economic Association; International Institute of Public Finance; International Health Economics Association; American Society of Health Economics; and Association of Public Policy and Management.  She is currently associate chair of the board on Children, Youth and Families for a joint committee of the National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine.  She has also been invited to sit on the advisory committee to the director of NIH.

00:59:54	Her favorite committee is the national advisory committee of the Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Scholars.

01:00:22	BW talks about her work with state government.  She served on committees on HMOs, health care costs, and family impact workshops.

01:02:54	End of side.  End of tape.

Tape 2/Side 1

01:02:56	Barbara Wolfe continues to discuss her work with state government.  She thinks that over time government officials have become less interested in soliciting academic opinions.

01:04:14	She evaluates the climate for women on campus.  She contrasts her experience within the economics department to that in other departments.  BW served as acting head of the women’s faculty mentoring program.

01:07:42	She lists some honors and awards she has received, including membership of the Institute of Medicine.

01:10:09	BW talks about her life outside of work.

01:11:41	She talks about her family.

01:14:25	BW closes with a call for greater recognition of the multiple roles academics play.

01:16:21	End of side.  End of tape.  End of interview.

END