John Raisian

John Raisian, "the Tad and Dianne Taube Director of the Hoover Institution, assumed his position in 1989. He also holds an appointment as a senior fellow and is an economist who has specialized in national and international labor market and human resource issues. He joined the Hoover Institution in 1986 as a fellow, while serving as associate director during 1986–88, and deputy director during 1988–89.

"He received his B.A. in economics and mathematics from Ohio University in 1971 and his Ph.D. in economics from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1978.

"Raisian was a consultant to the Rand Corporation from 1974 to 1975 after which he went to the University of Washington as a visiting assistant professor of economics in 1975–76.

"From 1976 to 1980, he was an assistant professor of economics at the University of Houston where he received a distinguished teaching award from the College of Social Sciences.

"In 1980, he entered public service as a senior economist in the Office of Research and Evaluation, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In 1981, he joined the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Policy, in two capacities—Special Assistant for Economic Policy, a role he held until 1983, and Director of Research and Technical Support, which he left in 1984.

"As a result of his work for the U.S. Department of Labor, he received the Department's Distinguished Service Award. In 1983, he took a leave of absence from the Labor Department to serve as executive director of the President's Task Force on Food Assistance.

"After leaving the Department of Labor, Raisian became president of Unicon Research Corporation, an economic consulting firm in Los Angeles, where he worked until joining the Hoover Institution in 1986." 


 * Scholar/Advisor, International Freedom Center