2021 NEWSLETTER

Message from Steven Haider, Chair of the Department of Economics

As I sat down to write the introductory letter for our 2021 newsletter, I began by reviewing my letter from last year. I am very happy to report that we are in a much better place. Students have been back on campus for the fall, with many more classes in-person. I was able to teach my favorite upper-level undergraduate class in-person (EC480)...

Graduate Alumni Spotlight: Barbara Lowrey - First Woman to Receive a PhD in Economics

In the traditionally male dominated field of economics, one woman would blaze the trail for others at Michigan State University. In 1970, Barbara Lowrey became the first woman to receive her doctorate in economics at MSU, cementing herself and her legacy in the world of academia. The incredible story begins, well, right in East Lansing—long before she earned her PhD.

Graudate Alumni Spotlight: Linda Bailey-McWeeney

Linda Bailey-McWeeney received her Ph.D. in economics from MSU in 2004, and started on a career path similar to that of many of the alumni of our Ph.D. program. She took a job as an assistant professor at Baruch College in New York, teaching economics and doing research, and in 2011, moved to the College of Staten Island, where she is still working today teaching microeconomics and statistics.

Undergraduate Alumni Spotlight: Zachary Kuloszewski

Zachary Kuloszewski is a graduate from Michigan State University and a former Senior Research Analyst in the Capital Markets Function at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. He is currently a first-year PhD Student in Economics at the University of Chicago, with hopes of studying topics in behavioral and development economics in the future.

Undergraduate Alumni Spotlight: Katerina Powers

Katerina Powers was an economics major and graduated with high honors from Michigan State University in 2015. After graduation, she went on to work as an Associate Economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and has since earned a juris doctor from Boston University School of Law and joined the New York Bar. Now she works as an assistant district attorney in the Bronx serving the people of the State of New York.

Economics Undergrad Spotlight: Gregory Marchal Named Truman Scholar

Gregory Marchal has been named Michigan State University’s 17th Truman Scholar. He is one of 62 students from 51 U.S. colleges and universities selected as scholars.

Economics Undergrad Spotlight: Chloe Majzel - "Coming into my identity"

Chloe Majzel is a third-year student majoring in international relations in the James Madison College and economics in the College of Social Science with minors in Asian Pacific American Studies and Chinese.

Faculty Spotlight: Newest Economics Faculty Member Explores Effects of the Rise of the Gig Economy on Workers

MSU Economics Associate Professor Emilie Jackson researches the gig economy and its effect on workers and society as a whole. A general definition of the gig economy is the economic sector consisting of part-time, temporary, and freelance jobs.

Faculty Spotlight: MSU economist and social scientist helps Michiganders with the redistricting process

Jon X. Eguia, Ph.D., is a professor in the MSU Department of Economics, and his work reflects his passion from childhood to help citizens and our society.

MSU Department of Economics researches methods to increase diversity, equity and inclusion in student recruitment

“Increasing diversity in economics is really essential,” said MSU Department of Economics Professor Stacy Dickert-Conlin, Ph.D. “30% of undergrad majors nationally are women, only about 12-15% are underrepresented minorities.”

MSU economics alumni speak to current students

MSU Women and Minorities in Economics Host Alumni Panel

Earlier this fall, Women and Minorities in Economics (WAMIE), hosted three MSU alumni in a panel event that students could join in person or by Zoom.

MSU Economics Honors Outstanding Economics Majors

About 400 economics majors graduate from Michigan State each year, and for the past several years, it has been the department’s tradition to honor a small number of the most outstanding members of that group, publicly acknowledging their accomplishments in a reception held at the close of the spring semester. Read more.

MSU Economists' Recent Research Highlights

Michigan State’s economics professors are active researchers, typically publishing their research discoveries in the form of articles in peer-reviewed scholarly journals. A handful of these journals are recognized as the premier journals in economics, that is, they publish those research results that seem most likely to make an important contribution to our knowledge of the workings of the economic system. Read more.

W. Paul Strassmann, 1926-2021

Our former colleague W. Paul Strassmann passed away on January 24th, 2021. Paul joined the Department of Economics faculty in 1956 as an instructor, having received his BA from the University of Texas, his MA from Columbia University, and Ph.D. from the University of Maryland. He spent his entire career at Michigan State, being promoted to full professor in 1963, and retiring in 1995.

Support the Department of Economics

Are you passionate about the field of economics or your experiences at MSU and considering ways to give back? A gift to our department could be used to help undergraduate and graduate students, research, or other scholarly activities.

Learn more.

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MSU Department of Economics

486 W. Circle Drive
110 Marshall-Adams Hall
USA, East Lansing, MI48824

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