Marla Ripoll, a professor and former chair of the Department of Economics, has been selected by Provost Joe McCarthy to serve as interim dean of the School of Public and International Affairs, starting this semester.
Ripoll is filling the shoes of Carissa Slotterback, who led the school from 2020 until Aug. 3, 2026, when she left to become dean of the Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions at Arizona State University.
Ripoll is a professor of economics and serves as core faculty in both the Center for Latin American Studies and the Global Studies Program. She was chair of the Economic Department from September 2021 to September 2024, and director of graduate studies from September 2013 to December 2016. She received the Tina & David Bellet Arts and Sciences Teaching Excellence Award in 2004, and the Chancellor's Distinguished Teaching Award in 2009.
McCarthy said his decision to pick someone from outside of SPIA as the interim dean was “based on the needs of the school during this period of transition. Marla Ripoll brings significant academic and leadership experience, including experience across disciplines and in University-level leadership. I selected her to provide steady leadership while the University considers SPIA’s future direction.”
He also said that in the coming days he will name and charge a working group that will be composed of faculty, staff, students, alumni, and other stakeholders “to assess the school's strengths and opportunities and inform the next steps.”
Ripoll earned her Bachelor of Arts from the Universidad Nacional de Colombia and her PhD from the University of Rochester. Her research bridges macroeconomics, development economics, and demographics.
In development economics, she studies what drives cross-country differences in schooling, fertility, and life expectancy, along with how international trade shapes productivity and economic outcomes. Her work has appeared in leading journals including the Review of Economic Studies, the Journal of Monetary Economics, the International Economic Review, the Economic Journal, and the Review of Economics and Statistics.