Mr. Siddhartha (Sid) Biswas, a current graduate student in Economics at Carolina, has been named the Gallman Graduate Scholar in Economics for 2017-2018.
Sid is a third-year student in the Ph.D. program in Economics. He has taken on a daunting task in his initial research: measuring the impact of student loan debt on the incidence of mental health illnesses among the young. While other researchers have focused on the deleterious impact of student loan debt on job-market outcomes, Sid’s research measures the mental-health outcomes associated with the stress of student loan debt. It’s a fascinating research agenda at the intersection of economics and clinical psychology. His adviser is Professor Donna Gilleskie.
Robert Gallman was a nationally recognized researcher on American economic history and a professor of Economics at Carolina from 1962 to 1998. He was named the Kenan Distinguished Professor of Economics in 1980, and served the Department as chair during the period 1990-1995. He was president of both the Southern Economic Association and the Economic History Association during his long and distinguished career, and trained generations of Carolina graduate students in the techniques of quantitative economic history. Paul Rhode, Professor of Economics at the University of Michigan and a long-time colleague of Robert here at Carolina, described him as follows: “Robert Gallman was everything a scholar should be — a tireless researcher, an insightful observer, and a wonderful storyteller. But even more impressive was how supportive Bob always was of his students. They could have no better mentor.” It is fitting, given his devotion to graduate-student success, that we remember him with this scholarship.
The Gallman Graduate Scholarship is made possible by private contributions from his many admirers. Graduate students in the dissertation-preparation stage of their studies at Carolina are eligible to apply, and those with the most creative proposals are considered for this support.
Congratulations, Sid!