Karen R. Polenske Explained

Karen Rosel Polenske
Birth Date:March 20, 1937
Nationality:American
Institution:Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Field:Regional science, economic development, political economy
Alma Mater:Harvard University
Syracuse University
Influences:Wassily Leontief
Contributions:Input-output model
Awards:Regional Science Association International Fellow (2005)

Karen Rosel Polenske (born March 20, 1937) is an American regional economist specialized in energy, environmental, and infrastructure analyses, and input-output accounts and models, particularly at the subnational scale. She is currently the Peter de Florez Professor of Regional Political Economy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Polenske received her undergraduate degree in Home Economics from the Oregon State University in 1959. She holds a master's degree in public administration and economics from Syracuse University and a PhD in economics from Harvard University, where she was in charge of the regional work at the Harvard Economic Research Project. Working with Wassily W. Leontief, she directed one of the most extensive multiregional input-output research studies of the U.S. economy in history.

She has been director of the multiregional planning research team at MIT since 1972. She is also past president of the International Input-Output Association. Polenske has been an advisor to international agencies, including the United Nations Development Programme, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and the World Bank, as well as an economic consultant to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Department of Commerce, Department of Justice, and the United States Army Corps of Engineers.

Awards

In 2007, Polenske received special recognition from Rajendra K. Pachauri, chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, for having "contributed substantially to the work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)," thus contributing to the IPCC's award of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. In 2005 she became a lifetime Regional Science Association International (RSAI) Fellow, in recognition to significant scholarly and research contributions to the field of regional science. In 1999, she received the Margaret McCoy Award, for her outstanding contribution towards the advancement of women in planning at institutions of higher education through service, teaching, and research, and in 1996 she was awarded the Walter Isard Distinguished Scholar Prize for distinguished long-term achievements in the field of Regional Science.

Selected publications

Her publications include eight books, and numerous articles in key economic, energy, environmental, and planning journals, establishing her as a leading political economist.

Recent articles

Books

Edited volumes

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Karen R. Polenske. Multiregional Input-output Analysis: The U.S. input-output accounts and model. 1980. Lexington Books. 978-0-669-02173-8.
  2. Book: Karen R. Polenske. State Estimates of Technology, 1963. 1974. Lexington Books. 978-0-669-87007-7.
  3. Book: Karen R. Polenske. The Economic Geography of Innovation. 2007. Cambridge University Press. 978-0521689533.
  4. Book: The technology-energy-environment-health (TEEH) chain in China. Worldcat. 179430510.