Glaeser’s new post will likely force him to hob-nob with Boston politicians. “I would fear for my life if my baseball opinions were known publicly,” Glaeser said.

Raised in New York, Glaeser is the son of a Museum of Modern Art curator, although the economist claims to have “unbelievably little artistic ability.” Moreover, a June 2000 paper co-authored by Glaeser concluded that art museums have no significant impact on a city’s economic growth.

“But since you asked, my favorite era is Northern Renaissance and my favorite painter is van der Weyden,” he said.

A RENAISSANCE MAN

Jesse M. Shapiro ’01, an economics graduate student who co-authored the obesity study with Glaeser and Cutler, described Glaeser as “an extraordinary teacher and adviser...In addition to being a brilliant economist, he is also widely read in history and literature.”

Glaeser “brings a wonderful multidisciplinary focus” to the Taubman Center and the Rappaport Institute, Luberoff said.

Altshuler said Glaeser currently is “the only economist among the faculty members who are most deeply involved in the [Taubman] Center.” But he added that Glaeser “will be able to draw many other economists into the work of the center.”

Glaeser’s “important work on the relationship between segregation and opportunity may help cross the lines between, economics, policy and urban structures,” said Professor Education and Social Policy Gary A. Orfield, who is co-director of the Harvard Civil Rights Project.

While Glaeser has worked as a consultant to officials from New Zealand to Bolivia, Altshuler came to Harvard in 1998 which more extensive government experience. He worked adviser to Massachusetts Gov. Francis Sargent in the late 1960s and served as the state’s transportation secretary in the 1970s before joining Harvard’s faculty in 1988.

“Altshuler’s background in political science...and his practical experience in the Massachusetts state government gave him a broad perspective on urban policy and infrastructure issues,” Orfield said.

Glaeser has already begun to assemble a team of researchers at the Taubman Center to probe the causes of differences in productivity levels among cities.

“I am enthusiastic about continuing Alan’s approach of working with lawyers, political scientists and sociologists to push forward our knowledge of cities,” Glaeser said.

—Staff writer Daniel J. Hemel can be reached at hemel@fas.harvard.edu.