Jens Otto Ludwig is an economist. He is McCormick Foundation Professor of Social Service Administration, Law, and Public Policy in the Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice and Harris School of Public Policy Studies, where he also serves as co-director of the University of Chicago Crime Lab
Ludwig is also Project Director for the long-term evaluation of the Moving to Opportunity randomized housing mobility experiment at the National Bureau of Economic Research, where he is also Co-Director of the Working Group on Economics of Crime and a Research Associate in the Program on Children and the Health Economics Program.
Among a variety of other current and previous posts, in 2012 Ludwig was also elected as Vice President of Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management and as a member of the National Academy of Medicine. In 2006 he received the David N. Kershaw Prize for contributions to public policy. His research focuses on social policy, particularly urban issues such as poverty, crime, and education.