On the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, the McCourt community remembers beloved Public Policy Institute Associate Professor and economist Leslie Whittington.
Leslie Whittington was a dedicated professor, a renowned scholar, a loving wife and an inspiring mother of two children. Each year, the McCourt School celebrates her memory and passion for teaching through the Whittington Lecture, which invites thought-leaders and change-makers to the McCourt School to deliver talks addressing pressing societal challenges, blending rigorous analysis and community engagement.
This anniversary, we take a closer look at what made her a fixture of our community: her research, her teaching and the students and colleagues who still carry her legacy with them today. Our thoughts are with the Whittington family, who continue to mourn the loss of Leslie, her husband Charles Falkenberg, and daughters Zoe and Dana who tragically died on American Airlines Flight 77 on September 11, 2001.
A scholar of work, family and policy
Whittington earned her bachelor’s degree in business from Regis College in Denver, then her master’s and Ph.D. in economics from the University of Colorado-Boulder. She began her academic career at the University of Maryland in 1989 before joining Georgetown Public Policy Institute (GPPI) in 1996.
Her scholarship centered on how tax policy intersects with family life, a throughline she returned to over the course of her career. Her 1989 doctoral dissertation examined fertility and the personal tax exemption, work she later published in the American Economic Review in 1990. She went on to build a substantial body of research, much of it with longtime collaborator James Alm, exploring how taxation shapes decisions around marriage, family and work.
Her published research includes:
- “Is There Competition Between Breast-Feeding and Maternal Employment?” — Demography (1999)
- “Wedding Bell Blues: The Income Tax Consequences of Legalizing Same-Sex Marriage” — National Tax Journal (2000)
- “Choosing Children Over Career? A Cross-Cohort Exploration of the Postpartum Labor Force Behavior of Professional Women” — Population Research and Policy Review (2000)
At the time of her passing, she was collaborating on several more projects, including research on cohabitation and tax policy with Jennifer Thatcher, the tax treatment of single households with Jason Fletcher, and land reform and fertility in Honduras with Ramon Lopez. She was also co-writing a book on women, work and family with the University of Delaware’s Saul Hoffman (CNN.com, Porter Anderson, 2001).
Erica Dahl (MPP’98), who started at GPPI in 1996 and currently serves as a McCourt Advisory Board member, remembers how, as a new graduate student, it was affirming to see that what Whittington was working on academically could serve to change a policy that could improve women’s lives. “I was immediately drawn to her and fascinated by her focus on the marriage tax,” Dahl says.
Teaching at Georgetown Public Policy Institute
Whittington began teaching at the Institute in 1996. She taught microeconomics; public finance; race, gender and the job market; and international social development at Georgetown. She also served as associate dean from 1991 to 2001. Professor Emeritus William Gormley had described her as “one of the most popular teachers” to ever teach at the Institute (The Hoya, Jennifer Ernst, 2001).
“There are some people whom, even if you don’t see them all the time, you know the world functions better because of them. Leslie was one of those people,” said Alan Berube (GRD’99), a former student, in 2001.
“Leslie won awards for teaching people statistics, which is not an easy thing and it’s a testimony to what a fine teacher she was,” said Professor Judy Feder, who was dean at the time.
“She believed profoundly in educating students she saw as believing they could change the world. She saw it as her job to be sure they had the skills to do it. She expected the most of her students — and she got it. And she was enormously, enormously proud of all her students’ achievements.”
In 2001, Whittington had secured a visiting fellowship at Australian National University, and was planning to move there for two months with her family. Her academic work felt like “a perfect fit” for the newly created Centre for Tax System Integrity at ANU, according to an ABC article by Barbara Miller.
On September 17, 2001, a fully packed memorial service was held at Holy Trinity Church for Whittington and her family. Students also gathered for a prayer vigil in Dahlgren Quad (Blue & Gray, Nancy Freiberg, 2001).
Whittington was, “an amazing, inspiring professor, but we loved her because she shared her life with us,” said Chiquita Brooks-LaSure (MPP’99), who delivered the 2021-2022 Whittington Lecture. “She brought energy, a sense of humor and warmth to everything she did, professionally and personally. We are changed from having known her.”
A legacy that lives on
In the 25 years since, the McCourt School has hosted twelve Whittington Lectures, welcoming speakers including Senator Elizabeth Warren, former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (MPP’94). The Whittington Scholarship, funded by generous donors, continues to support an outstanding McCourt student each year with roughly $15,000 in aid.
“Leslie brought intellectual rigor, humor and humanity to her research, her teaching and her relationships,” said Professor Feder. “These features are at the heart of the McCourt experience; Leslie Whittington is with us still.”
Read more about how the Georgetown community is remembering all those affected by 9/11.
