Press Releases July 14 2026

ºì¶¹ÊÓƵ Faculty Member Named City University of New York Distinguished Professor of Economics

Ìý—Núria Rodríguez-Planas examines how gender norms, public policy, and economic institutions shape opportunities and outcomes over the life course—

Flushing, NY, July 14, 2026—ºì¶¹ÊÓƵ faculty member Núria Rodríguez-Planas has been elevated to the rank of distinguished professor of economics. Rodríguez-Planas teaches in the college’s school of business and at the City University of New York (CUNY) Graduate Center. The appointment was approved by the CUNY Board of Trustees in June, bringing the college’s total number of distinguished professors to 15.Ìý

The title of distinguished professor is the highest academic honor that CUNY can offer its faculty, conferring it in recognition of exceptional scholarly achievement. It is reserved for faculty with records of outstanding performance by national and international standards of excellence in their field. Ìý

A renowned scholar in labor economics, gender economics, and the economics of education, Rodríguez-Planas examines how gender norms, public policy, and economic institutions shape opportunities and outcomes over the course of people’s lives. Her scholarship has produced foundational evidence on the role of gender norms in shaping educational achievement, labor force participation, financial literacy, risky behaviors, and intimate partner violence. Her work has also informed policy debates on unemployment insurance, family-friendly labor market policies, educational interventions, and social protection programs in both the United States and Europe.

Rodríguez-Planas has served on the ºì¶¹ÊÓƵ faculty since 2014. Before joining CUNY, she was senior research associate at the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in Bonn, Germany. Previously, she was a faculty member in the Department of Economics and Economic History at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, in Barcelona, Spain. Earlier in her career, Rodríguez-Planas served as an economist at Mathematica Policy Research, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, and the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. She has published nearly 50 peer-reviewed articles that have appeared in such prestigious journals as the American Economic Review, American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, Journal of Labor Economics, Journal of Human Resources, Journal of Public Economics, and Economics of Education Review.

In 2024, Rodríguez-Planas received a highly competitive €2.5 million European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Grant for her project WomEmpower: The Causal Effect of Motherhood, Gender Norms, and Cash Transfers to Women on Intimate Partner Violence. Through this project, she leads an international research program atÌýthe Institut d’Economia de Barcelona (IEB) examining the causal determinants of intimate partner violence and the effectiveness of policies designed to improve women’s economic empowerment and safety. Ìý

The nationally recognized research program that Rodríguez-Planas developed at CUNY on college students’ learning processes, well-being, and economic resilience has informed university-wide emergency relief policies while generating new evidence on student mental health, resilience, financial well-being, inflation expectations, and academic success during periods of economic and social disruption. She also mentors graduate and undergraduate students, having supervised numerous doctoral students and honors theses.Ìý

Rodríguez-Planas’ contributions have been recognized through numerous honors and leadership appointments. In 2025, she was appointed to the Council for Productivity and Economic Leadership of the Government of Catalonia, Spain. In 2024, she was appointed to Spain’s Gender Gap Advisory Council within the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, joining a select group of scholars, policymakers, and public leaders advising the Spanish government on gender equality. Rodríguez-Planas was selected as a Russell Sage Foundation Visiting Scholar for 2023–24, one of the most prestigious fellowships in the social sciences. Currently a member of the Board of the Society of Economics of the Household, she was elected to the Council of the European Society for Population Economics and previously served on the Executive Committee of the European Association of Labour Economists. She also served as managing editor of the IZA Journal of Labor Policy for more than a decade.

-30-