Tomas J. Philipson, Ph.D.

Tomas J. Philipson is a professor in the Harris School and a faculty member in the Department of Economics and the Law School.

Watch Tomas Philipson discuss 'The Economics of Obesity' on Money & Politics - November 23, 2007

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Tomas J. Philipson's research focus is on health economics, and he teaches master’s and PhD courses in microeconomics and health economics at the University. He is an associate member of the Department of Economics and has been a Senior Lecturer at the Law School. He is currently serving on an eight member health care task force for Senator John McCain’s campaign for President of the United States.

Philipson was born and raised in Sweden where he obtained his undergraduate degree in mathematics at Uppsala University. He received his MA and PhD in economics from the Wharton School and the University of Pennsylvania. He thereafter joined the University of Chicago as a postdoctoral fellow in 1989, joined the faculty in 1990, and received tenure in 1998. He was a visiting faculty member at Yale University in the academic year 1994-95, and a visiting fellow at the World Bank in the winter of 2003. He was on leave from the University to serve in the Bush Administration as the Senior Economic Advisor to the head of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) during 2003-04 and subsequently as the Senior Economic Advisor to the head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in 2004-05.

Philipson is the recipient of numerous international and national research awards. He has twice (in 2000 and 2006) been the recipient of the highest honor of his field, the Kenneth Arrow Award of the International Health Economics Association (for best paper in the field of health economics). In addition, he was awarded the Garfield Award by Research America in 2007 (for best paper in field of health economics), The Prêmio Haralambos Simeonidisand from the Brazilian Economic Association in 2006 (for best paper in any field), and the Distinguished Economic Research Award from the Milken Institute in 2003 (for best paper in any field of economics). Philipson has been awarded numerous grants and awards from both public and private agencies including the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the John M. Olin Foundation, and the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

Philipson is a co-editor of the journal Forums for Health Economics & Policy of Berkeley Electronic Press and is on the editorial board of the journal Health Economics. His research has been published widely in all leading academic journals of economics such as the American Economic Review, Journal of Political Economy, Quarterly Journal of Economics, Journal of Economic Theory, Journal of Health Economics, Health Affairs and Econometrica. He was a member of the University-wide Council on Research in 2000-02 and is currently a member of the Advisory Committee to the University's Office of Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer (UCTech).

Philipson is a fellow or faculty associate of a number of professional organizations, including the National Bureau of Economic Research, the American Enterprise Institute, the Milken Institute, the RAND Corporation, the John M Olin Program of Law & Economics at the University of Chicago, the George J. Stigler Center for the Study of the Economy and the State at the University of Chicago, the Northwestern/University of Chicago Joint Center for Poverty Research, the Population Research Center, and the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago.

Philipson has become a demanded executive consultant in the United States and abroad. He has consulted for both private corporations, including several U.S. Fortune 100 companies, as well as government organizations domestically and internationally including the The Presidents Council on Science and Technology, The National Academy of Sciences and the multi-lateral organizations such as the World Bank, the World Intellectual Property Organization, and the OECD. He the co-founder of Precision Heath Economics LLC, on the Honorary Board of Directors of the internet-based consulting firm the Round Table Group, on the Board of Directors of MedErr Inc, on the board of the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest, on the Council of Advisors for the Gerson-Lehrman Group, and a consultant for Lexecon and Analysis Group.

Coverage of Philipson's research has appeared in numerous popular media outlets such as CNN, CBS, FOX News, Bloomberg TV, National Public Radio, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Business Week, Washington Post, Investor's Business Daily, USA Today, and the Chicago Tribune. Philipson was selected for inclusion into the International Who's Who in 2003.

Philipson is a dual citizen of the United States and Sweden and before leaving Sweden served in its army and played volleyball at the national team level.

Courses

• PP47000 Advanced Health Economics
      Course Description    |     Winter 2006 Course Syllabus