Ann E. Harrison is a renowned Professor at UC Berkeley, an economist and one of the most highly cited scholars on foreign investment and multinational firms. She served as the 15th dean of the Haas School of Business and was the second woman to lead the school since its founding in 1898. Harrison is a Life Member of the Council of Foreign Relations, as well as a member of the National Bureau of Economic Research. She serves on a number of Boards, including UNPRME, the Berkeley Haas Advisory Board, and the board of the french business school EDHEC. 

Under Harrison’s leadership, Haas increased fundraising commitments by 50 percent. She also significantly expanded faculty size through both generous gifts from alumni and revenue growth.  

Partnerships with the rest of UC Berkeley allowed Harrison to offer exciting programs with the School of Law, the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, Berkeley Engineering, the Graduate School of Journalism, and the Rausser College of Natural Resources. Prior to stepping down, Harrison launched a joint MBA and Master’s in Climate Solutions in partnership with Rausser College of Natural Resources,, where she was a professor earlier in her career. 

Harrison came to Haas from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, where she was the William H. Wurster Professor of Multinational Management and a professor of business economics and public policy. Before joining Wharton in 2012, she was the director of development policy at the World Bank, where she co-managed a team of 300 researchers and staff. As director of development policy at the World Bank, Harrison reformed its process for allocating research funds and oversaw the institution’s flagship publications.  

Harrison earned her PhD in economics from Princeton University. She also holds a DEUG (diplôme d’études universitaires générales) from the University of Paris. She earned her bachelor’s degree from UC Berkeley with a double major in economics and history.