Terry Babcock-Lumish

Terry Babcock-Lumish (née Lumish) is an American professor, entrepreneur, and policymaker. She is the Executive Secretary of the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation.

Early life

Babcock-Lumish grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and attended Upper St. Clair High School. She received a Bachelor of Science from Carnegie Mellon University. While there, she won a Harry S. Truman Scholarship. She later earned a master's degree in public affairs from Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs and a Doctor of Philosophy from University of Oxford, St. John's College.

Her father, Dr. Robert Lumish, was an infectious disease specialist and Chief of Infectious Diseases at UPMC Mercy Hospital.

Career From 1999 to 2001, Babcock-Lumish worked for the United States Government as a fellow in the Presidential Management Fellows Program in the President's Council of Economic Advisers.

From 2005 to 2008, Babcock-Lumish was a senior research associate at Harvard Law School. From there, she went on to serve as a visiting research associate at the Oxford University Centre for the Environment.

In January 2011, Babcock-Lumish was appointed as a Distinguished Lecturer and the first Newman Director of Public Policy at the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College. In this position, Babcock-Lumish directed the public policy program.

From 2012 to 2014, Babcock-Lumish was an assistant professor of economics at the United States Military Academy.

Awards

Babcock-Lumish was named a Harry S. Truman Scholarship winner in 1996. She went on to earn the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation's Elmer B. Staats Award, the Foundation's highest honor granted to one Truman Scholar annually.

In 2007, Babcock-Lumish received the young alumni award from Carnegie Mellon University.

In 2010, she won the Mexico International Film Festival Silver Palm Award as the consulting producer for the documentary Women on the Edge: The Mexican Immigrant Experience.

The American Swiss Foundation, the National Committee on US-China Relations' Young Leaders Forum, the Council for the US and Italy, and the British-American Project have all recognized Babcock-Lumish as a young leader.

Published works "Trust Network Sclerosis: The Hazard of Trust in Innovation Investment Communities", Journal of Financial Transformation, Vol. 29, pp. 163–172; 2009.

In this publication, Babcock-Lumish coined the term "trust network sclerosis," describing the phenomenon in which excessive reliance on trustworthiness results in a form of decision-making lock-in. Pricing the Economic Landscape: Global Financial Markets and the Communities and Institutions of Risk Management, ('Political Economies of Landscape'; 2008; ).]

Media appearances Babcock-Lumish appeared on NBC's TODAY Show in 2014 in a segment titled Cadets, chefs break down barriers,