Edward F. Lawlor served as dean of the Brown School from 2004 to 2016. His teaching and research focus on public policy and aging, health policy, and social services. Lawlor's book "Redesigning the Medicare Contract: Politics, Markets, and Agency" treats Medicare reform as an exercise in writing a good social contract. He is currently writing a book on the social services industry, and he writes a blog on social policy.
Lawlor is the founding editor of Public Policy and Aging Report and a member of the National Academy of Social Insurance. He is a former director and faculty scholar in the Institute for Public Health.
Prior to joining the Brown School, Lawlor served as dean and professor at the School of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago and professor at the Irving B. Harris Graduate School of Public Policy Studies. He directed the Center for Health Administration Studies and the University’s Graduate Program in Health Administration and Policy.
