March 15, 2020
Christina Elson has been named Executive Director of the Wake Forest Center for the Study of Capitalism.
“The implied mission of the Center for the Study of Capitalism at Wake Forest University is to facilitate an objective discussion of the positives and negatives of a system based on individual rights, free markets and limited government,” said John Allison, Wake Forest School of Business Executive in Residence. “Christina Elson is uniquely qualified to lead this effort because of her intelligence, broad background, and ability to rationally integrate conflicting perspectives.”
Elson comes to Wake Forest from the University of Maryland, College Park, and brings her background as an anthropologist and businessperson to the role of Executive Director. Elson has a PhD in Anthropology from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and is a graduate of the Executive MBA program at Maryland Smith.
“At Wake Forest I will actively work across disciplines and with the business community to encourage research, outreach, and teaching on the dynamic power of markets and how we can best harness them to create a free and flourishing society,” Elson said. “I will build on the center’s solid foundation and bring Wake Forest into an evolving national conversation on the role of capitalism in the 21st century. Well-functioning capitalism demands a constant reflection on our goals as individuals and our desire to contribute to our families, communities, and society as a whole.”
Prior to her role as Assoc. Research Scholar in Management and Organization and Managing Director of the Ed Snider Center for Enterprise and Markets at the University of Maryland, she was with National Geographic Magazine and the American Museum of Natural History.
Elson co-founded a boutique science media and communications firm called Science Visualization, and is the creator and host of a podcast called The Inc. Tank , where she interviews experts about the impact of technology such as blockchain, AI, and synthetic biology on industry and society.