Welcome
The Department of Economics is pleased to provide news and updates on department activities in this newsletter. This edition highlights accomplishments and research of faculty and students, and provides some useful facts and figures about the department. In addition, for the first time we profile members of our new Economics Advisory Board.
The department is currently in a period of transition. Our faculty size is lower than it has been in several years. We are working diligently to bring the best economists possible to the department, and we expect to remain recruiting for the next few years. This year we are focusing on senior candidates in industrial organization (IO), applied microeconomics and behavioral/experimental economics. Another transition is leadership—David Blau stepped down as the chair this past summer and I have assumed the role. My colleagues and I appreciate all that David has done for the department.
The department will play a key role as Ohio State moves to become a preeminent university. The university has also increased its commitment to access—serving more students and a more diverse student population. As economists, we know that the demand for economics is high, and we expect that the demand will only increase as more students are interested in economic issues. We look forward to meeting this demand in the future.
Our faculty are committed to improving the quality and reputation of the department. We remain one of the most decorated departments at Ohio State, with three University Distinguished Scholar Award winners on our faculty. As we grow our faculty, we know that our existing reputation is a strength and will have positive effects on our ability to attract the best and brightest students and faculty.
Another source of support for the department is gifts from alumni and friends. These have become quite important for activities that help the department improve: funding undergraduate scholarships and prizes, graduate research scholarships, support for graduate students to travel to conferences to present their research and seminar series that bring scholars to campus to discuss their research. We now have a coordinated effort thanks to the hard work of our Economics Advisory Board. They have provided key leadership in reaching out to our alumni and for encouraging the faculty to “think outside of the box” to find better ways to engage friends of the department. I am looking forward to meeting many of you in the future as we work together.
I hope you enjoy reading about our faculty Javier Donna, undergraduate students Alex Admonius and Spencer LaHue and graduate student Kirby Nielsen. We also have a feature on Mike Cogan, a member of our Economics Advisory Board and more. As you will soon see, Ohio State is a great place to study and research in economics because we have the most insightful students and teachers in the world. If you are ever on campus, please drop by Arps Hall and say hello. We would be delighted to see you and show you some of the terrific goings on in the department of economics.
Trevon Logan
Professor and Chair
