A/Prof Randall Akee

Randall Akee (Native Hawaiian) is an associate professor in the Department of Public Policy and Chair of the American Indian Studies Department at UCLA. Dr. Akee is a graduate of the Kamehameha Schools and Dartmouth College. Dr. Akee completed his doctorate at Harvard University in June 2006. Dr. Akee is an applied microeconomist and has worked in the areas of Labor Economics, Economic Development and Migration.

Dr. Akee spent several years working for the State of Hawaii Office of Hawaiian Affairs Economic Development Division. Previously, he served as a David M. Rubenstein Fellow in Economic Studies at the Brookings Institution. He has conducted research on several American Indian reservations, Canadian First Nations, and Pacific Island nations in addition to working in various Native Hawaiian communities. He is a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. He also serves on the University of California Office of the President’s Native American Advisory Council. Previously, he served on the National Advisory Council on Race, Ethnic, and Other Populations at the US Census Bureau.

In 2020, Dr. Akee with his colleagues founded the Association for Economics Research of/by/for/with Indigenous Peoples (AERIP) which is the first organization dedicated to fostering economics research related to Indigenous Peoples. For the year 2002-2023, Dr. Akee served as a Senior Economist in the Council of Economic Advisers to the President working on Labor and Social Inclusion topics.