Adrienne Lucas is a Professor of Economics and Chair of the Department of Economics at the Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics at the University of Delaware. She is a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), an affiliate of the Bureau for Research and Economic Analysis of Development (BREAD), a faculty affiliate of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), a nonresident fellow at the Center for Global Development (CGD), and a research network member of Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA).

Her research focuses on the economics of education and disease, including strategies to improve student learning using existing school personnel and resources, the effects of policies and external factors on educational and labor market outcomes, and the external validity of research findings across contexts. Her work has examined malaria, HIV/AIDS, free primary education, secondary school choice, returns to school quality, teacher incentives, and early primary school learning. Before joining the University of Delaware, she was an Assistant Professor of Economics at Wellesley College. She holds a PhD and an AM in Economics from Brown University and a BA in Economics from Wesleyan University.