Nathan Grawe

Grawe Bio Pic

Associate Professor of Economics and Director of QuIRK Initiative
One North College Street
Northfield, MN 55057 ngrawe@carleton.edu

Phone:507-222-5239

Background Information

Nathan D. Grawe is a labor economist whose work examines intergenerational determinants of child success. Recent interests include the impact of K-12 school quality on intergenerational mobility in the US. His work has been published in the Journal of Economic Perspectives, The Journal of Human Resources, and elsewhere.


In the classroom, Nathan has worked with Carleton's Quantitative Inquiry, Reasoning, and Knowledge (QuIRK) initiative to improve students' abilities to use quantitative evidence in arguments. He has published work in the Journal of Economic Education and Numeracy, the journal of the National Numeracy Network.


Nathan earned his BA (1996) at St. Olaf College and his MA (1998) and PhD (2001) in Economics at the University of Chicago. He has taught in the Economics Department at Carleton College since 1999.

Related Pedagogical Projects

Nathan directs Carleton's Quantitative Inquiry, Reasoning, and Knowledge (QuIRK) initiative. This program offers a distinctive approach to quantitative reasoning, situating it in the context of argument. Begun with support from the US Department of Education's Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education (#P116B040816), the initiative is currently funded by grants from the National Science Foundation (#DUE-0717604), and the W.M. Keck Foundation.