A fifth cohort of postdoctoral scholars will join the Stone Center in September 2023. Maximilian Longmuir was selected for the position that focuses on wealth inequality, and Meredith Slopen for the position focused on inequality in the U.S. or in other labor markets. The two incoming scholars were each appointed for a term of two years.
Max Longmuir is an economist whose work combines topics in household finance, labor economics, and distributional economics, with a special focus on wealth inequality. His research examines questions such as the relevance of households’ portfolio choices on wealth inequality, and the effect of labor market risk on wealth accumulation processes. His interests also include methods for measuring the wealth distribution, intergenerational mobility along the wealth distribution, and the interdependencies of inheritances and labor market outcomes. Longmuir received his Ph.D. from the Free University of Berlin in 2021 and was a postdoctoral scholar at the Humboldt University of Berlin, where he worked on intergenerational wealth inequality and its socio-demographic conditions in Germany.
Meredith Slopen works at the intersection of labor policy and health, drawing on interdisciplinary methods from social work, public health, and economics to explore the workplace as a site of intervention to reduce inequality. Her current projects focus on the impact of state-level paid sick leave policies on the health, well-being, and economic security of working families. Future research interests include policy responses to reduce inequality at critical junctures during a time of labor force transition. She previously worked as a research scientist at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, specializing on evaluation, maternal health, and health policy. She will receive her Ph.D. in social welfare and policy analysis from Columbia University, School of Social Work (anticipated May 2023).
“We are delighted that Max Longmuir and Meredith Slopen will join our team this fall,” said Janet Gornick, director of the Stone Center. “Our longstanding goal has been to select postdocs who will contribute to the Stone Center’s ongoing portfolio of research and, at the same time, expand our range. Max’s important research, both substantive and methodological, will extend the work conducted as part of the GC Wealth Project, and Meredith’s innovative work — linking social policy, labor policy, and health outcomes — will broaden the scope of work carried out in the Stone Center overall. With their appointments, we are pleased to celebrate a milestone in the life of our postdoctoral scholars program: Max and Meredith make up our fifth cohort, bringing the total number of Stone Center postdocs so far to ten.”
The Stone Center’s expansion of its postdoctoral scholars program is funded by a multi-year gift from the James M. and Cathleen D. Stone Foundation. The gift has allowed the Center to add two new postdocs a year since September 2019, in addition to other initiatives. Longmuir and Slopen will join the Center’s fourth cohort of postdoctoral scholars, who started their two-year terms in the fall of 2022: Tina Law, who studies race and ethnicity, inequality, and social change in U.S. cities, and Manuel Schechtl , who focuses on wealth inequality and the policy determinants of poverty and of income.
For a full list of the Stone Center’s current and former postdoctoral scholars, and more information about the program, see our Postdoctoral Scholars page.