Early childhood education to be discussed April 25 at SJU

Early childhood education will be the subject of an upcoming lecture by Arthur Rolnick at Saint John’s University.

Rolnick, a senior fellow and co-director of the Human Capital Research Collaborative at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota, will speak on “Why Early Childhood Education is the Best Investment We Can Make,” at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 25, at Pellegrene Auditorium, SJU.

The event is free and open to the public.

Rolnick is working to advance multi-disciplinary research on child development and social policy. His work on early childhood development has garnered numerous awards, including those from the George Lucas Educational Foundation and the Minnesota Department of Health, both in 2007. Rolnick was also named 2005 Minnesotan of the Year by Minnesota Monthly magazine.

A former senior vice president and director of research at the Federal Reserve Bank in Minneapolis, Rolnick also served as an associate economist with the Federal Open Market Committee – the monetary policymaking body for the Federal Reserve System.

Rolnick’s research interests include banking and financial economics, monetary policy, monetary history, the economics of federalism and the economics of education.

A native of Michigan, he received his bachelor’s degree in mathematics and a master’s degree in economics from Wayne State University in Detroit. Rolnick has a doctorate in economics from the University of Minnesota.