Notre Dame, Indiana, USA: At each home football game, the University of Notre Dame’s Office of the Provost recognizes a distinguished faculty member as part of its All-Faculty Team.
This year, Indian-origin economics professor Lakshmi Iyer has been selected as one of seven members to join the All-Faculty Team, a group honored for their influential work at Notre Dame and their wider impact beyond the university.
In line with the tradition, Provost representatives introduced Iyer on the football field during Notre Dame’s home game against Texas A&M University on September 13.
Iyer, a trained economist, serves as the Academic Director of the Building Inclusive Growth (BIG) Lab, which designs long-term solutions to support vulnerable communities in developing countries. Her efforts align with Notre Dame’s Poverty Initiative, an institution-wide commitment to advancing research and policies aimed at reducing global poverty.
Her academic focus lies at the crossroads of history, economics, and politics, with particular attention to Asia. Recent studies she has led examine whether post-colonial policy changes can alter the long-lasting effects of historical institutions, how decentralization can improve education and health systems, and whether granting formal land rights enhances women’s economic participation. Her current projects explore governance, global health, and resource management.
Reflecting on her career path, Iyer noted:
“Growing up in India during a period of economic reforms, I witnessed firsthand how government decisions shape a nation’s development. That experience motivated me to study the reasons some countries make progress against poverty while others face political, historical, or social barriers.”
She added, “Even today, more than 800 million people live in extreme poverty. This is not only an economic challenge but also a moral, social, and political one. I feel fortunate to collaborate with scholars across disciplines at Notre Dame and elsewhere, to better understand how issues such as institutions, history, and gender inclusion influence poverty.”
Her research has been published in leading economics and interdisciplinary journals. In addition to her scholarship, Iyer teaches undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral courses in Notre Dame’s Department of Economics and the Keough School of Global Affairs. She earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Indian Statistical Institute and a PhD in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
