December 2015
Dear UW Economics alumni and friends,
In September, we were pleased to welcome new assistant professor Jing Tao (Ph.D. 2015, University of Wisconsin – Madison) to the department. An econometrician, Dr. Tao is teaching Econometric Theory and Practice this fall. Additionally, I am excited to share that we are conducting two faculty searches this year for positions in empirical microeconomics, one at the junior (tenure-track assistant professor) level and one open rank (including tenured associate or full professor) level. These searches are part of a hiring plan to develop this popular research area.
Interviews for the junior position will take place at the 2016 meetings of the American Economic Association in San Francisco, during which time the department will host an alumni reception for any interested UW Economics alumni. Join us on Sunday, January 3, 2016, from 6-8 p.m. at the San Francisco Hilton Union Square for this annual get-together.
As always, the faculty has been busy this year publishing widely, editing major economics journals, organizing and presenting at conferences around the world, and receiving acknowledgement for their contributions to the profession. I am delighted to congratulate Professor Pat Bajari, who was recently elected a Fellow of the Econometric Society; Professor Fabio Ghironi, who was appointed Director of the International Trade and Macroeconomics program at CEBRA; and Associate Professor Yu-Chin Chen, who was awarded the 2015 Henry T. Buechel Award for Distinguished Undergraduate Teaching in Economics. On behalf of the entire department, I also extend my congratulations to Professor Neil Bruce, who will retire this month following 25 years of teaching for UW Economics.
The department was deeply saddened by the deaths of two Emeritus faculty members this fall. Associate Professor Emeritus Michael Hadjimichalakis passed away from a stroke in October, having retired in 2013 after teaching at UW for 44 years. Michael was a highly popular and engaging teacher who consistently ranked as one of our students’ favorite faculty members. Professor Emeritus and Nobel Laureate Douglass North, who taught in the department for 33 years and served as department Chair for 12 years, passed away in November at the age of 95. North was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1993 with co-recipient Robert W. Fogel.
In the graduate program, our academic placements this year included Emory University, Renmin University, Louisiana State University, Xiamen University, Hamilton College, Oberlin College, Cal State University, National Taipei University, Shanghai Finance University, and University of Nuevo Leon (Mexico). Non-academic placements included State Street Corporation, the Bank of Slovenia, the Korea Institute for Public Finance, and Edgeworth Economics, among others. Our 2015-2016 job market candidates are working closely with faculty this fall to prepare for entering the job market this winter and spring; I am proud of their hard work and look forward to sharing their placements with you next summer.
I am also proud of the accomplishments of our undergraduates: the class of 2015 began their graduate and professional schooling this fall at prestigious institutions such as UC Berkeley, Columbia Law, Duke University, University of Chicago, Boston University, and the University of Michigan, or headed for the working world at firms like Amazon, PitchBook, Russell, Fisher, and many others.
The Economics Visiting Committee (VC) is welcoming a new chair, alumna and die-hard Husky Christina Tapia (Ph.D. ’09, BA ‘95). Following a unanimous vote of the executive committee of the VC, Christina will take over the Chairship on January 1, 2016, having been a committee member since 2011. Christina is an economist for OSC Vocational Systems, a vocational rehabilitation consulting firm, where she specializes in estimating economic damages. She is also a Visiting Lecturer in the UW Economics Department and an Adjunct Professor of Economics at Seattle University.
A committee of VC members and faculty unanimously approved the selection of Tim Jenkins (BA '86) as the 2016 Department of Economics Distinguished Alumnus. A management consultant, entrepreneur, and investor, Tim has devoted his career to helping companies of all types form, grow and thrive. The management consulting firm he co-founded, Point B, has focused on turning strategies into reality for hundreds of organizations since its inception in 1995. A longtime VC member and undergraduate mentor in the department, in addition to volunteering on scholarship selection committees each year, Tim has been a valuable resource to the department for many years, and I am delighted to extend my congratulations to him on the occasion of this recognition.
The 2015 Kathy Gehrt Memorial Economics Volunteer Service Award was co-awarded this year to alumni Gabe Hanzeli, BA ’76, and Walt Zabriskie, BA ’71. Both Walt and Gabe are actively involved in a variety of department programs and initiatives, and their collective contributions have made a tremendous difference in the department over the years that they have been involved, particularly with our highly successful undergraduate mentor program and with our alumni outreach efforts.
Among our various alumni outreach initiatives, our undergraduate mentorship program has garnered considerable interest this year from other campus units considering the creation of a similar program. Because of the program’s visibility as a successful example of alumni/student engagement, I recently had an opportunity to share highlights of our program with UW Interim Provost Jerry Baldasty and other social sciences’ department chairs.
On behalf of the entire department, thank you for your friendship, support, and interest in our activities.
Sincerely,
Fahad Khalil
Professor of Economics and Department Chair