FRI Launches its Fellows Program
Ewell Lawson is the Program Director for the Financial Research Institute (FRI) at the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri. FRI advances unbiased research, education, and collaboration for sound, innovative public utility policy and regulation.
The utility sector is in the midst of a tectonic shift. It’s no longer your grandparents’ industry. Over the past decade, decarbonization targets have tightened, grid operators are adapting to an unprecedented mix of resources and demands for both resilience and affordability have grown.
Ever-present technology shifts continue to rewrite the demands on energy and water service. This isn’t a theoretical environment; it requires evidence grounded in rigorous research and an understanding of real-world complexity.
The Financial Research Institute (FRI) at the University of Missouri is answering that call with a new multi-year Utility Policy Fellows Program. Funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the initiative provides opportunities for early career scholars to bridge the gap between academic research and utility policy decision making — a space where robust research can inform today’s choices and shape the sector for decades.
Housed at the University of Missouri — a top-tier R1, AAU research university and a federal land-grant institution — FRI has long been a trusted forum for unbiased research, conversation-based educational programs, and collaboration in public utility policy. The new Utility Policy Fellows Program is a direct extension of that mission, designed to produce scholars who conduct high-quality research and understand the day-to-day realities of regulation, markets, and stakeholder engagement.