Getting to Know Antonio Merlo, Drexel’s 16th President

At his core, Antonio Merlo is a teacher.

Whether he is in a classroom, overseeing a university department or on the pool deck, Drexel’s newest president has found his greatest reward in a single, powerful moment: when understanding dawns.

“There is nothing like looking at a student and seeing them have a lightbulb moment — a sudden flash in understanding of a complicated topic,” he said. “It’s amazing.”

The same spark, he explains, can ignite within a team. As a longtime water polo coach and seasoned higher education leader, Merlo has seen firsthand how transformation happens when ideas click — not just for individuals, but for entire groups.

“When everyone is on the same page, when everything starts to make sense, that is when the magic happens,” he said. “Then, everyone can be empowered, as well as take responsibility.”

Merlo has honed his teaching expertise as an economics professor and administrator at New York University, where he most recently served as the Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Science, as well as at the nearby University of Pennsylvania, Rice University in Houston and at the University of Minnesota. Come July 1, Merlo intends to bring his leadership style — one in which he infuses his passion for collaborative learning with his entrepreneurial spirit — to Drexel as the institution’s 16th president.

Changing tides

Merlo joins Drexel as the University embarks on its Academic Transformation, a blueprint for reimagining the institution’s future through the integration of programs and schools, redesign of curriculum and transition to a semester calendar — offering an improved and more flexible academic experience for students. Since being named president in January, Merlo has emphasized his commitment to the initiative and his strong belief that it is giving Drexel an advantage to outshine the rest, especially when combined with the University’s expertise in experiential education.

“The Drexel community has been willing to engage in this process of Academic Transformation, look under the hood and reinvent, while so many other institutions have been sitting on the sidelines,” Merlo said. “This is the type of action we need to take if we want to be a model university for the next century.”

Aside from Academic Transformation, Merlo was attracted to Drexel because of its longtime dedication to inclusive education. Merlo, the son of working-class parents in Italy, and the first in his family to attend college, is living proof that higher education is an important engine to social mobility.

“In a way, I embody what Drexel has been and can be for so many,” Merlo said, noting that without scholarships, he wouldn’t have had the resources to pursue his doctoral degree in the U.S.

An academic entrepreneur

Merlo attended Bocconi University in Milan for his undergraduate degree in economics and social sciences, where he said he “fell in love with academia.” He attended NYU for his doctoral degree, studying economics, and secured his first job out of college as an assistant professor at the University of Minnesota.

“I applied for over 70 jobs, and I was open to moving anywhere,” recalled Merlo. “I ended up at the University of Minnesota and it was an incredible opportunity for me.”

Merlo said he remembers feeling intimidated at first, “working alongside geniuses” at one of the top economics departments in the country. Five of his colleagues would later earn a Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences.

“It was a remarkable experience,” he said. “I learned so much there.”

After six years of growth at the University of Minnesota, and a stint as an adjunct consultant in the research department of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, Merlo was lured back to NYU for a few years as an associate professor with tenure, where he had a joint position in economics and political science. He landed in Philadelphia and at Penn in 2000, where he earned recognition time and again for his scholarship and teaching, including the Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback Foundation Award for Distinguished Teaching in 2009, and the Irving B. Kravis Prize for Distinction in Undergraduate Teaching in Economics on five separate occasions.

Throughout the years, Merlo’s scholarship has fused economics with politics, with his expertise hovering over political economy, policy analysis, public economics, bargaining theory and applications and empirical microeconomics. A little more than five years ago, after three decades of teaching, Merlo published an undergraduate textbook that focuses on political economy and policy analysis, which is used as an educational resource across the country. His research interests span the gamut, from the economics of crime, voting, the study of the residential housing market, and more, and he has been cited most for his scholarship involving politicians’ career decisions and bargaining theory in a stochastic environment.

“Politics affects economics and economics affects politics on a daily basis,” Merlo said, when asked why he got into this particular field of research. “I felt like I couldn’t study economics alone, and I wasn’t solely interested in politics per se, but I have always been very interested in how the political system and the economic system constantly interact to determine the world we live in.”

It was at Penn, where Merlo worked for 14 years, that he really got a taste of higher education administration and university service, convening conferences, fundraising for new fellowships and establishing global student exchange and research collaborations. He was appointed director of the Penn Institute for Economic Research in addition to his Lawrence R. Klein professorship and was a research associate at the university’s Population Studies Center and a member of the Center for Italian Studies advisory board.

Later at the Ivy League institution, Merlo became the chair of the Economics Department, before he took on the same role at Rice University, where he quickly rose through the ranks, becoming dean of Rice’s School of Social Sciences. As a dean at Rice, Merlo was instrumental in completing a major fundraising effort, which supported the construction of a state-of-the-art academic building, endowed chairs and graduate and undergraduate student fellowships. He also partnered with government agencies and nonprofit groups to establish a public policy research institute.

In 2019, he was recruited back to NYU, where he served as what some call a “super dean” — overseeing its Faculty of Arts & Science, the university’s largest academic unit, comprising of 1,600 faculty and staff members, three schools, dozens of departments, research centers, institutes and cultural houses. In this role, Merlo worked meticulously and strategically to expand the limits of NYU Arts & Science, overseeing the completion of a new, innovative home for the college, NYU’s founding school; establishing new centers and an office of research; growing research and fundraising dollars; and hiring 120 tenure-line faculty.

Coach Merlo

In addition to his academic and administrative duties, Merlo has also served as a beloved head coach for both men’s and women’s water polo teams at NYU, Penn and Rice. Coaching allowed him to connect with students on a deeper, more personal level, all while sharing in the sport he has played since childhood.

“Being a coach just allows you to interact with students at a different level, which I really enjoyed,” Merlo said. “I have huge respect and admiration for student athletes. You want to see leadership in action? Go visit with a sports team at a college.”

Sure, it was a lot, balancing his regular work with coaching, admitted Merlo. But it was worth it.

“The students juggle so many things, and I was like, if they can do it, I can do it,” he said. “It was always a joy to be a coach.”

Merlo brings his coaching mindset into every facet of his work — motivating, mentoring and always aiming for excellence. As he prepares to step into his new role at Drexel, his enthusiasm is unmistakable.

“Go Team Drexel,” he said. “Now it’s our time to win championships.”

Drexel’s bright future

A proud “city person,” Merlo has officially moved back to Philadelphia and is comfortably settling in, relishing long walks (his ideal mode of transportation) and the food and cultural scene he’s always adored. He has also embarked on his “listening tour,” meeting with folks from across the University with the goal of having a boost on Day 1 to “hit the ground running.”

“I want to meet everyone I possibly can, hear their concerns, understand what their pain points are, what their aspirations are, and really start putting all these pieces together with a strong team to continue moving Drexel forward,” he said.

Drexel’s Academic Transformation, which is at the top of Merlo’s priorities, will make the institution more attractive to students, better support scholars, build innovative programs and ultimately increase the institution’s impact on society. He has other big plans, for instance, to uplift Drexel’s alumni network and ramp up fundraising, with more details to be unveiled in the coming months. An inauguration celebration is expected to take place next spring.

“One of my goals is for Drexel to be discussed at dinner tables around the country,” said Merlo. “I want our concept of experiential learning to shine, and for everyone — whether you are in Arizona, Florida, Minnesota, Pennsylvania or beyond — to say, ‘How about Drexel?’”