Making a splash in health care economics
When Heidi Williams was in the fifth grade, she wanted to become an industrial organizational psychologist. That could have been an interesting career. Later, when Williams was in college, she wanted to become a cryptologist, and even completed an internship at the National Security Agency. That also could have been an interesting career. But Williams did not stick with either one. “You have to be honest with yourself about what you’re most excited about,” says Williams. “As a researcher, you want to find a set of questions that you really want to answer. That’s not an automatic ticket to success in life, but I think it’s a necessary precondition for being motivated to get up in the morning and being excited to work.” Instead, Williams is now the Class of 1957 Career Development Associate Professor in MIT’s Department of Economics, and what motivates her to get up in the morning is a...