Letter from the Chair

As part of the first research university in the United States, the Department of Economics has a long tradition of conducting frontier research and making it an integral part of our teaching mission. The Department is organized into three core groups – applied microeconomics, macroeconomics, and theory – each of which has a distinguished faculty and runs a vibrant, world-class seminar that brings together faculty and students.

For our graduate students, we instill in them a capacity to ask substantive questions and train them to deploy frontier theoretical and econometric methods in addressing those questions, and to do so with rigor and depth. More broadly, the goal is to transform them from student to colleague, by engaging them in the classroom and seminars and having them regularly present and defend their research before the faculty. The environment is challenging but collegial as we all work with the common objective of making advances in knowledge.

For our undergraduate students, we offer a rich and stimulating exposure to issues and methods in economics and teach them to think logically and with clarity about economic and social problems. With the opening of the Center for Financial Economics in 2008 and the creation of the minor in financial economics, undergraduates can receive a singular education that blends economics and finance and explores how the two are intertwined. It is just one of the many areas of study available to them.

We welcome you to peruse our web site and encourage you to contact the faculty in order to learn more.

Joe Harrington
Department Chair

P.S. I recommend reading the Department Newsletter to learn about some of the recent accomplishments of the faculty, graduate students, and alumni as well as departmental events.