Kate Bundorf, a health economist who studies health care systems, will become the J. Alexander McMahon Distinguished Professor of Health Policy and Management effective July 1 in the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University.
Bundorf joined the Sanford School in January 2021 from Stanford University. At Stanford, she was an associate professor in the Department of Health Research and Policy in the School of Medicine. She was also an associate professor in the Graduate School of Business and a Senior Fellow at The Stanford Institute for Economic and Policy Research.
Since joining Duke in 2021, Bundorf has been the S. Malcolm Gillis Distinguished Professor of Public Policy and an affiliate of the Margolis Center for Health Policy. Her research focuses on health policy and the economics of health care systems. She has studied public and private health insurance markets, the organization of health care providers, and consumer decision making in health care. Her recent research, featured on Policy 360, is on the impact of algorithmic information and recommendations on consumer choice in health insurance plans.
“The big picture question that ties my research agenda together is how to get more from the money we spend on health care,” she said. “I am honored to receive the McMahon chair and I am looking forward to continuing Frank Sloan’s legacy in promoting research and training in health economics and health policy across the university.”
Bundorf is a research fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research and co-editor of the Journal of Health Economics and the International Journal of Health Economics and Management. She was a Fulbright scholar and a visiting professor at the Fudan University School of Public Health, Shanghai.
“Kate’s research and contributions make her the perfect selection for this distinguished professorship,” said Dean Judith Kelley. “As a top scholar in the field, she has added significantly to Duke’s strengths in health policy and will be vital as we continue to build our health policy educational offerings.”
The professorship is named for the late J. Alexander McMahon, who as a trustee chair, faculty member and health care leader helped advise Duke University and hospital officials for more than four decades. McMahon joined the Duke Board of Trustees in 1970 under President Terry Sanford and served as chairman of the board from 1971 to 1983. For much of that time, McMahon served as president of the American Hospital Association, a leading national organization that represents hospitals, health care networks and patients on a variety of health issues. In his honor, the American Hospital Association established the J. Alexander McMahon Professorship in Health Policy and Management at Duke.
Related news
Scholar of health policy joins Sanford faculty
Former Trustee Chair J. Alexander McMahon dies at age 87
Featured Audio