Department of Economics

The study of economics helps students develop a framework for understanding of how individuals, organizations and societies make choices and how those choices interact to determine the allocation of an economy’s limited resources among alternative competing uses.   Economists study how these choices are made in a variety of environments and consider how the outcomes vary under alternative forms of economic organization.  Economists evaluate the outcomes of an economic system on a scorecard that includes several different criteria such as efficiency, equity, and stability.
 
The fundamental goal of our curriculum is to introduce students to the economic way of thinking—a particular way of asking questions and analyzing problems.   We offer a core set of courses that teach the fundamental theoretical tools of economics, and a set of elective courses that demonstrate how economists apply these tools to study a wide variety of real-world economic issues.   A key takeaway for students is a working knowledge of a useful and coherent structural approach to examining current public policy issues and an ability to identify the inherent tradeoffs involved in developing solutions to major social problems.
 
The economic style of thinking, when combined with training in the required tools of quantitative and qualitative analysis, provides students with a skill set that will serve them well in a wide array of post-graduate pursuits.   The banking and financial sectors regularly hire undergraduate economics majors as do management consulting firms.  A number of private corporations employ economists to prepare forecasts of future movements in firm costs and profits.   Government agencies—local, state, national, international- hire economics majors for positions as budget analysts or government program evaluators. The study of economics also provides sound preparation for graduate school, either a Masters or PhD degree in economics or a professional degree in business, law, or public policy.
 

An, Yonghong, Professor
Economics
PHD, John Hopkins University, 2011

Barr, Andrew C, Associate Professor
Economics
PHD, University of Virginia, 2015

Bento, Pedro M, Associate Professor
Economics
PHD, University of Toronto, 2013

Brown, Alexander L, Professor
Economics
PHD, California Institute of Technology, 2008

Bunting, Jackson, Assistant Professor
Economics
PHD, Duke University, 2021

Castillo, Marco, Professor
Economics
PHD, University of Wisconsin, Madison, 2001

Eckel, Catherine C, University Distinguished Professor
Economics
PHD, University of Virginia, 1983

Gan, Li, Professor
Economics
PHD, University of California at Berkeley, 1998

Glass, Amy J, Associate Professor
Economics
PHD, University of Pennsylvania, 1993

Gronberg, Timothy J, Professor
Economics
PHD, Northwestern University, 1978

Guo, Huiyi, Assistant Professor
Economics
PHD, University of Iowa, 2018

Hoekstra, Mark L, Professor
Economics
PHD, University of Florida, 2006

Jansen, Dennis W, Professor
Economics
PHD, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1983

Jo, Yoon Joo, Assistant Professor
Economics
PHD, Columbia University, 2019

Klopack, Benjamin, Assistant Professor
Economics
PHD, Stanford University, 2019

Krasteva, Silvana S, Associate Professor
Economics
PHD, Duke University, 2009

Li, Qi, Professor
Economics
PHD, Texas A&M University, 1991

Luco Echeverria, Fernando A, Associate Professor
Economics
PHD, Northwestern University, 2014

Maness, Robert S, Associate Professor of the Practice
Economics
PHD, Texas A&M University, 1992

Meer, Jonathan, Professor
Economics
PHD, Stanford University, 2009

Pakhotina, Nataliya V, Senior Lecturer
Economics
PHD, University of Florida, 2010

Petrie, Ragan, Professor
Economics
PHD, University of Wisconsin, Madison, 2002

Puller, Steven L, Professor
Economics
PHD, University of California at Berkeley, 2001

Ray, Margaret, Instructional Associate Professor
Economics
PHD, University of Te, 1988
PHD, University of Tennessee, 1988

Schulman, Craig T, Associate Professor of the Practice
Economics
PHD, Texas A&M University, 1990

Sekhposyan, Tatevik, Associate Professor
Economics
PHD, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, 2010

Serra, Danila, Associate Professor
Economics
PHD, University of Oxford and Centre for the Study of African Economies, 2009

Strickland, Chelsea, Instructional Assistant Professor
Economics
PHD, Texas A& M University, 2022

Tian, Guoqiang, Professor
Economics
PHD, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, 1987

Ureta, Manuelita, Associate Professor
Economics
PHD, University Of California, Los Angeles, 1987

Varghese, Adel, Instructional Associate Professor
Economics
PHD, University of Pennsylvania, 1996

Velez, Rodrigo A, Associate Professor
Economics
PHD, University of Rochester, 2009

Zhang, Yuzhe, Professor
Economics
PHD, University of Minnesota, 2006

Zubairy, Sarah, Professor
Economics
PHD, Duke University, 2010