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Krugman Commencement Speaker at Bard College at Simon's Rock

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GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — Paul Krugman, winner of the 2008 Nobel Prize in Economics, will address graduates at the 47th commencement ceremony of Bard College at Simon's Rock, The Early College, on Saturday, May 21, at 11 a.m.

The ceremony is free and open to the public; priority seating given to the families of graduates.

Krugman was the sole recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his work on international trade theory. As one of the founders of the "New Trade Theory"— economic models that focus on the role of increasing returns to scale, among others — he was awarded the John Bates Clark medal by the American Economic Association in 1991, a biennial prize given to an economist under 40 who has made a significant contribution to the field of economics. During the Reagan administration, he worked at the White House as the senior international economist for the President's Council of Economic Advisers.

Krugman, who has long-standing ties to Simon's Rock and Great Barrington, said, "It's a great privilege to speak here on this occasion. Simon's Rock lets students — who are our future — get started on their own future early, and it's a wonderful thing."

"We at Simon's Rock are honored to have a speaker of Dr. Krugman's brilliance and integrity deliver the 2016 keynote address," said Ian Bickford, provost and vice president of Bard College at Simon's Rock. "He will be an inspiration to our graduates, a powerful group of independent thinkers in their own right."



A Distinguished Professor at the City University of New York's Graduate Center, Krugman is also a centenary professor at the London School of Economics. Prior to his appointment at CUNY, he served at Princeton and on the faculty of Massachusetts Institute of Technology as a Ford International Professor of Economics. He also taught at Yale and Stanford Universities. He received his bachelor's degree from Yale University in 1974 and his doctorate from MIT in 1977.

Today's most widely read economist, he's best known for his op-ed column in The New York Times. Touted as "the most important political columnist in America," by The Washington Monthly, he received the Gerald Loeb Award for Commentary in 2011. Before joining The New York Times in 1999, he was a columnist for Fortune Magazine and published articles in The New Republic, Foreign Policy, Newsweek, and The New York Times Magazine. He was chosen as one of Bloomberg's 10 Most Influential Thinkers  (2013), and Bloomberg's 50 Most Influential People in Global Finance (2011). He appeared on Foreign Policy's "Top 100 Global Thinkers" list from 2009 to 2012. In addition to writing over 200 scholarly articles, Dr. Krugman has also written extensively for a broader audience — including editorials in Foreign Affairs, Harvard Business Review, Slate, and Scientific American.

A prolific author, he received high praise for "The Return of Depression Economics and the Crisis of 2008" and "End This Depression Now," which both became New York Times bestsellers. He named his New York Times blog after one of his 23 books, "The Conscience of a Liberal."

He is a Fellow of the Econometric Society, a Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research, and a member of the Group of Thirty. Krugman served as a consultant to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the United Nations, as well as to a number of countries including Portugal and the Philippines.


Tags: bard college,   commencement,   graduation 2016,   

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Great Barrington Public Theater Appoints Artistic Director

GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — Great Barrington Public Theater announced that Associate Artistic Director Judy Braha will now join Jim Frangione at the helm as Artistic Director of Great Barrington Public Theater.
 
"We at Great Barrington Public Theater are thrilled that Judy Braha will assume the role of Artistic Director alongside myself. I couldn't have asked for a better partner to help advance the interests of the theater as we move into the next phase of growth as the region's premiere developmental theater," Founder & Artistic Director Jim Frangione said. "Judy brings a tremendous amount of experience and value to our company and has, in just a few short years, grown and greatly enhanced GB Public Theater's signature program, Berkshires Voices, where playwrights develop their work, leading to public readings and in some cases workshops and full productions. I look forward to working more closely with Judy to select the next generation of plays to be presented under the GB Public banner. It's a "Bear" of a job! But we feel great about the direction of our theater."
 
Judy Braha joined the GB Public artistic leadership team in 2023 as the Associate Artistic Director after 2 years directing for the company. She has since then been collaborating with Founder and Artistic Director Jim Frangione on the selection of new work for readings and full productions in the summer season. Her impressive portfolio of credits and accomplishments strengthened Great Barrington Public's creative programming and offered new perspectives to the body of works and events produced each year. 
 
Judy Braha has been a career director, actor, teacher and artist for social justice for over four decades with directorial credits in theaters and universities throughout New England. She led the M.F.A. Directing Program at Boston University's School of Theater, retiring in 2022 after 29 years of service at BU. 
 
"Judy has the strength of commitment, leadership and passion for theater and how it affects communities that fit hand-in-glove with our founding mission and core beliefs," Founder and Producing Director Deann Halper Simmons explains. "Her artistic integrity, sense of stage esthetic and ability to make important choices that craft life from the script continues to be a great asset to our company and growth."
 
"Judy's distinguished artistic voice has significantly contributed to the exceptional growth of GB Public in recent years," Managing Director Serena Johnson added. "We are truly excited to have her stepping into this leadership role in the 2026 season."
 
 
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