W. Mark Crain
William E. Simon Professor of Political Economy, Chair Policy Studies
crainm@lafayette.edu
(610) 330-5315
112 Simon Center
Member of the Policy Studies Faculty Advisory Committee
Lafayette College Faculty Spotlight
Mark Crain is the William E. Simon Professor of Political Economy at Lafayette College and Chair of the Policy Studies program. In addition to teaching and research, his duties include strategic planning, curriculum development and assessment, student advising, and communications with internal and external constituencies. He has published over 100 articles and 10 books in the fields of economics, business, political science, and law. His most recent monograph, The Impact of Regulatory Costs on Small Firms (2010, with Nicole V. Crain), estimates the cost of federal regulation and its distribution among business sectors and firm sizes.
Dr. Crain came to Lafayette College in 2004 from George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia where he had been a faculty member with administrative, research, and teaching duties since 1982. As Director of the Center for Study of Public Choice, Dr. Crain led one of the world’s most productive academic enterprises. Dr. Crain also served as Director of the Economics Ph.D. and M.A. Programs at George Mason. His prior academic positions were at UCLA and Virginia Tech.
Dr. Crain was Assistant to the Director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (1987-88), and co-author in 1988 of the Presidential transition report on the US Department of Energy. For the Commonwealth of Virginia, Dr. Crain served as a Trustee of the $50 billion Virginia Retirement System and chaired its Audit and Compliance Committee. He was also a member of the Governor’s Advisory Board of Economists. In total, his federal and state level public service over 25 years includes work on a variety of topics including budgeting, energy, regulation, GPS, transportation, and finance.
Dr. Crain received his doctorate in economics from Texas A & M University and a Bachelor of Science from the University of Houston.
