September 1999 Newsletter
THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILL
E C O N O M I C S G R A D U A T E
A L U M N I N E W S L E T T E R
SEPTEMBER 1999
FROM THE HOME OFFICE
Questions, comments, or correspondence? New information is always valued. Close to 400 of your Ph.D. program colleagues at UNC-CH receive this newsletter. About 280 of them have never contributed any news. We welcome participation, new and continuing contacts, in keeping this newsletter going.
See the last page for a return form, or use the www site for on-line response, “www.unc.edu/depts/econ/” and click on “alumni news,” or send email (jim_murphy@unc.edu).
The classrooms in Gardner Hall have been renovated so that you might not recognize them. There are slick tables, computer projection, new flooring and window air conditioner units. Yes, we still have no central air. Also, some update has occurred in the faculty and TA offices on the third floor. A new suite of four offices exists on the west end of the second floor where classroom 208 used to be. On the other hand, a number of the offices, the seminar room and others are just as they were in 1974 when we moved from the School of Business. The same carpet, blinds, curtains, chalkboards would be familiar to many of you.
All the faculty and teaching assistants are now equipped with computer work stations or laptops. Soon, all incoming undergraduate students are expected to have their own computer. Much use is made in courses of email, class listserves and discussion groups, computer illustrations, and downloads from the internet.
Listed below are the names of last year’s first year students. We appreciate your continuing interest in recommending to us persons who have become some of our best students.
Lara Bryant — Florida State University
John Csellak — University of Florida
David Galaty — Williams College
William Grant — Davidson College
Jae-Young Lim — Seoul National University
John MacDonald — Wake Forest University
Elena Nicoara — Babes-Bolyai University
Andrew Petusky — Swarthmore College
Jonathan Pingle — University of Connecticut
Travis Raines West — Virginia University
Jonathan Roenker — University of Kentucky
Roderick Rose — SUNY Albany
Melissa Ruby — Duke University
Melissa Sims — UNC-Charlotte
Recent job market placements of our Ph.D. graduate students are shown below.
Charles Baum — Middle Tennessee State University
Teresa Beckham — Rhodes College
John Burger — Loyola College, Baltimore
Ngina Chiteji — Skidmore College
Alexander Cowell — Research Triangle Institute
Jason Dietrich — Comptroller of the Currency
Darrick Hamilton — University of Michigan
George Mark Holmes — East Carolina University
Amber Jessup — Food and Drug Administration
Kristin Sandusky — Bureau of the Census
Tim Savage — Charles River Associates
Luis Sosa — University of Virginia
Frank Warnock — Federal Reserve Board
Tom Xu — Texas Tech University
FACULTY NEWS
Professor Pat Conway was granted a research and study leave for the spring semester. He used the leave to complete a research project on “Crisis, Stabilization and Growth: Economics Adjustment in Transition Economies.”
Professor James Friedman was granted a research and study leave for the spring semester to complete a research paper entitled “A Market with a Social Consumption Externality” with Isabel Grilo of Universite Catholique de Louvain.
Associate Professor Paul Rhode was granted a research and study leave for the spring semester. He worked at the Public Policy Institute of California completing construction of an historical panel data set on industrial activity in California and the United States over the 1849-1996 period.
Gary Biglaiser and Claudio Mezzetti were promoted to Professor on July 1, 1999.
H. Wilbert Van der Klaauw joined the Department on July 1, 1999 as Associate Professor. His previous appointment was at New York University.
Xiaodong Wu joined the Department on July 1, 1999 as Assistant Professor. She received her degree from Princeton University.
Professor James Wilde retired effective June 30. He was appointed to a half-time fixed term position to continue teaching in the department.
Professor Vincent Tarascio retired effective June 30. He was appointed to a half-time fixed term position to continue teaching in the department.
Assistant Professor Donna Gilleskie won the Department of Economics Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award.
Professor David Guilkey won the Department of Economics Excellence in Graduate Teaching Award.
Professor Michael Salemi won the Marvin Bower award from the National Council on Economic Education. This award is given to a professional educator whose contributions to economic education are exemplary.
Among our graduate students, Mike Quinn was the recipient of the 1998-99 Graduate Prize in Economics in recognition of academic excellence, and the recipient of the Vijay Bhagavan Teaching Assistant Award for 1998-99 was Kim Wildner. Among undergraduate majors, Sandeep Sarangi was the recipient of the Undergraduate Honors Prize in Economics for 1998-99, and the winner of the 1998-99 Undergraduate Prize in Economics for academic excellence was Lindsee McPhail.
LETTER FROM THE CHAIR
This year should be an especially exciting year for the Economics Department since we have been authorized to begin our search for the Edward M. Bernstein Chair in Economics. As some of you will remember, Bernstein was a faculty member here during the years prior to World War II. After the war, he served as chief technical advisor and negotiator at the Bretton Woods Conference and participated in the formation of the International Monetary Fund. He later served as Director of Research for the fund, and later formed the consulting firm E.M.B. Limited. He kept in close contact with us over the years and remained a loyal friend of the department until his death several years ago.
His children decided to honor his memory by establishing the chair. They would like us if at all possible to find someone who worked in the same areas as their father which were macroeconomics and international economics. However, they also agreed that we should search broadly so that we will enhance our chances of hiring a person of high distinction. If you have any suggestions for this position, please send me an Email (David_Guilkey@UNC.EDU).
We appreciate hearing from you and learning of your recent professional activities. Please remember that we will have receptions at both the SEA and AEA meetings again this year and we hope to see you there.
As is true in many universities these days, outside funding is taking on increasing importance, if any of you are contacted by a fund raiser from UNC-CH and if you do decide to make a donation, please consider designating the Economics Department.
ALUMNI NEWS
In each item, the year given in parentheses is the year that the individual entered our graduate program. Since years of completing a degree may vary 3-4 years, this gives a clearer remembrance to those who entered the program near the same time.
Graduate alumni have generously returned support to the department by becoming noted economists and sharing glory, by saying good things about the department at national and regional meetings, by suggesting our program to high quality students, and by sending donations. The department has a special fund for the gifts, and it is used for items that enhance the educational program and ease some of the hard life for current graduate students. It helps with updating in-house graduate student computer services, for mailing these newsletters, for travel support to students giving papers, etc.
Each gift we receive from graduate alumni is truly appreciated as it is non-state flexible use money. If you are making a gift to UNC-Chapel Hill via any alumni development program, please note that you can always designate your gift for “Economics.”
Jerry Olson (1973) has two grown and moved-out children. He lives in Austin, TX, and works as Research Scientist for the Center of the Study of Human Resources at the University of Texas, doing “mostly statistical evaluations of welfare and other government programs.” For fun and funds, he also still is chief honcho of Olson Research. CONTACT: Center for the Study of Human Resources, UT, 3001 Lake Austin Blvd., Austin, TX 78703-4204 or (j.a.olson@mail.utexas.edu).
Sonnenshein Nath and Rosenthal in St. Louis announce that Stephen J. O’Brien (1985) has been named a partner in the firm, April 1999. Besides his Ph.D. in Economics from Carolina, Stephen has a J.D. from Harvard. He focuses on complex commercial matters and white collar crime, particularly in the health care field. His wife Tracey Oakes O’Brien is also an attorney. They have a one year old son, Nicholas. CONTACT: Sonnenshein Nath and Rosenthal, One Metropolitan Square, Suite 3000, St. Louis, MO 63102.
From Northwest Arkansas, Larry Ash (1965) writes that he has put his education into practice in the market economy, and owns the largest retail wallpaper business in Arkansas, known as Wallpaper Plus in Fayetteville, AR. Larry first worked at UNC-Greensboro, then the US Dept. of Labor, the US Senate, The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and the Southern California Gas company. He is moving his six year old company right up into the class with other Fayetteville enterprises such as J.B. Hunt trucking, Tyson Foods, and WalMart. CONTACT: email (lash@iso.net).
A million dollar donation created the Doe professorship in Economics at Davidson College, and the first recipient is Peter Hess (1976). The funds support research and travel, etc. and recognize teaching excellence, professional accomplishment and moral and intellectual values. Congratulations Peter. CONTACT: Dept. of Economics, Davidson College, Davidson NC.
Sarah Duffy (1982) actually used the on-line response form from the Economics home page. She is a service fellow in health research studies. CONTACT: Office of Applied Studies, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rm 16-105, Rockville, MD 20857, or (sqduffy@erols.com).
Thanks to John Woodley (1943) for responding. Professors Heer, Wolff, and Heath were his primary mentors. Most of you need to check your copy of the History of the Economics Dept. at UNC-CH to recall these names.
A returnee to the local area is Pam Lattimore (1982), who as Senior Research Social Scientist is directing research in criminal justice and substance abuse treatment at the Research Triangle Institute. Prior to this, she was ten years at the National Institute of Justice in Washington, DC, serving most recently as Director of Criminal Justice and Criminal Behavior Research. CONTACT: Health & Social Policy Division, Research Triangle Institute, P.O. Box 12194, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709-2194 or (lattimore@rti.org).
Also, returning to NC, but further west, is Jeff Konz (1988). He moved from Washington and Lee three years ago to UNC-Asheville. He is involved in the special interdisciplinary program at this liberal arts college and developing a program with faculty in Philosophy, Poli-Sci, Econ, and Sociology named “Ethics and Social Institutions.” His wife, Louly, and he have a son Nicholas born August 29, 1998, and should by now have missed enough sleep to be ready for the exercise marathon chasing after a crawling and walking investigative researcher. CONTACT: Dept. of Economics, UNC-Asheville, One University Heights, Asheville, NC 28804, or (jkonz@unca.edu).
From Thailand, we learn that Chomploen (Saradatta) Chandr-Ruang-Phen (1961) is retired from all her duties at Chulalongkorn Univ. and as Executive Director of Securities One. CONTACT: 150/3 Tiwanon 46, Tiwanon Road, Nonthaburi, 11000 Thailand.
We are sorry to report the death on July 10, 1998, of Carey C. Thompson, who received the Ph. D. in 1948 and had been living in Austin TX.
Mark Schmitz (1969) reports moving into the grandparent stage of life on July 31, 1998. He is still involved in two companies, one as President of MDS Associates, named after the president no doubt. CONTACT: SERA, Box 681950, Park City, UT 84068.
Retired in Atlanta is John Henderson (1939) with his wife Anne. They had four children and he was on the faculties at Carnegie-Mellon, Florida, and Alabama prior to his stint at Georgia State. John published a text on “National Income” with MacMillan, was on the Board of Editors of the SEJ and a vice-president of the Southern Economic Association. CONTACT: 1049 Springdale Rd., N.E. Atlanta, GA 30306.
A more recent graduate working as an Assistant Professor at the University of North Texas is Jennie (Chase) Wenger (1991), with her husband Jeffrey. During 1997-98, she received the Professing Women Award, a Junior faculty Summer Research Award, and a Research Initiative Grant for work on test scores and graduation rates, the returns to education for temporary workers, and the impacts of station characteristics and collusion on gasoline prices. CONTACT: Univ. of North Texas, P. O. Box 305457, Denton, TX 76203-5457.
Karen Smith Conway (1982) is an Associate Professor of Economics at the Univ. of New Hampshire. She and Tim have three children, now about ages six, three, and one. CONTACT: 15 College Rd. McConnell Hall, Univ. of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824.
We only recently learned of the death back in January 1996, of Harold E. Klontz, (1948) a life member of the UNC Alumni Association. He is survived by his wife, Mary, and a daughter, Anne. Harold received his Ph. D. here in 1948 and was a long-time professor at Auburn University. Some of his extra career positions were at the University of Kartoum in Sudan, at Feng Chia University in Taiwan, and the “semester at sea” program of the University of Colorado.
Alan Baughcum (1969) left his position at the FCC to move to the Justice Department. As an economist in the Economics Analysis Group, he works on antitrust investigations and cases in the telecommunications equipment, broadcasting, and advertising industries, among others. We presume he gets to meet a few billionaires during the processing. CONTACT: Justice Dept., Suite 10000, Antitrust Division, 600 E. St. NW, Washington DC 20530.
The death of another graduate was reported to us this past year. William L. Ivey (1954) died in April, 1998. Bill taught economics and ran the family farm in Auburn, Al, prior to his graduate work here. Then, he moved into health administration and organized the UNC Physicians into a group practice and was director of North Carolina Memorial Hospital along with faculty status in both the department of Hospital Administration and the School of Business. He moved to Arizona for a short term as deputy coordinator for health services for Indian reservations and rural communities. After this for 17 years he was president of Richland Memorial Hospital in Columbia, SC. He retired from this position in 1992.
We got an email from Mike Price (1975) containing only address information. Pretty exciting life there at the Dept. of Agriculture! CONTACT: usda/ers, 1800 M St., NW, Room 5202, Washington, DC 20036-5831, and email [mprice@econ.ag.gov].
Likewise, email from yhkim@mail.AsianDevBank.org reports that Yun-Hwan Kim (1982) is senior Economist now. He and his wife, Kyung-Ae have two sons, Seol and Rieu. CONTACT: Asian Development Bank, PO Box 789, Manila, Philippines.
Still at USC-A, but now a Professor is Marsha Robinson Shelburn (1978). CONTACT: Univ. of South Carolina at Aiken, 471 University Parkway, Aiken, SC 29801.
James Boomgard (1976) left our program after two years and finished his Ph. D. at Michigan State to emphasize Ag-Econ. He is now group vice-president in finance, banking and enterprise. CONTACT: Development Alternatives, Inc., 7250 Woodmont Ave., Suite 200, Bethesda, MD 20814, or email [jim_boomgard@dai.com].
So as to not lose touch, here is an updated address for Mathias Moersch (1988). CONTACT: Schneckenhofstr. 13, 60596 Frankfurt am Main, Germany, or email [MatMoersch@aol.com].
Don Schilling (1958) has retired from the faculty of Economics at the University of Missouri after a full career there. His wife Sally has also retired. Mail should still reach him as emeritus professor. CONTACT: Dept. of Economics, 118 Professional Building, Columbia, MO, 65211.
After two years as senior economist on the Council of Economic Advisors, Raymond Prince (1966) is now an economist with the U.S. Dept. of Energy. CONTACT: mail code PO-61, 1000 Independence Ave., SW, Washington, DC 20585.
Robert Knox (1958) is professor emeritus of Economics at Arizona State, and continues to live in Tempe. CONTACT: 46 W. Carolina Ln, Tempe, AZ 85284.
From a first position at Duke Univ. in economics, to 20 years as Professor with time as Dept. Head of economics at the Univ. of Arkansas, Patrick R. Huntley (1951) has now retired. CONTACT: 3106 SW Oxford Rd., Aldersgate Retirement Village, Topeka, KS 66614-4719.
From Whiteville, NC, Jesse Fisher, Jr. (1957) reports that he is just getting started in business and will retire in about thirty years. He is president of J.L. Powell and Co. He and wife, Gaye, have two sons who have graduated from UNC in 1981 and Davidson in 1989. CONTACT: J. L. Powell and Co. 106 Powell Bldg., Whiteville, NC 28472.
Ed Howle (1962) left his faculty position at UNC-CH to found a company that produced equipment for handicapped persons, particularly children. He is product designer and vice-president of Kaye Products. His wife may be the president, and six children may have been the quality control team. CONTACT: P. O. Box 756, Charleston, SC, 29402-0756.
Initially at the College of Charleston, but for many years now at the Library of Congress is Jim Bickley (1969). He and wife Karen have three daughters, Katherine (Katie), Mary (Molly), and Caroline, all teenagers. CONTACT: Specialist in Public Finance, CRS-Economics Division, Library of Congress, Washington, DC 20540-7430.
Another public finance grad is Bruce Angier (1971). Bruce was first at Georgetown University, then six years with the Center for Naval Analyses, and now with the Institute for Defense Analyses for over a decade. CONTACT: Research Staff Member, IDA, 1801 N. Beauregard St., Alexandria, VA 22311 or email [bangier@ida.org].
Mike Finger (1960) continues work at the World Bank for over twenty years. Most recently he has been principal organizer for the integrated program for the least developed countries, a joint project of the Bank and, are you ready, the IMF, WTO, UNDP, UNCTAD, and ITC. Mike is considering plans to retire within three years and move to some nicely developed country overseas. His oldest son finished a Ph. D. at Princeton and works with J. P. Morgan; daughter Sarah is in a Ph. D. program at Va. Tech, and youngest son Stephen was a senior at Princeton this past year. CONTACT:jfinger@worldbank.org.
Having been a research assistant at the World Bank and at the Urban Institute, Craig Richardson (1991) moved to the faculty at Salem College. He has been awarded tenure and has served as department chair for five years. Along with a faculty member from Wake Forest, he is working on an NIH grant on accessibility of health insurance for small business. He and wife Andrea have three daughters, Madeleine, Anna, and Currin, ages five to one. Craig also reports that Dan Mercer (1986) has a baby girl, Sally. CONTACT: P.O. Box 100548, Salem College, Winston-Salem, NC 27108 or email [cjr@salem.edu].
Jean Kimmel (1984) has been promoted to senior economist at the Upjohn Institute. She recently had three papers published, one each in REStat, Journal of Monetary Economics, and Labour Economics. She also had a baby boy in May 1997 named David Michael. CONTACT: W. E. Upjohn Institute, 300 S. Westnedge Ave., Kalamazoo, MI 49007, or email [kimmel@we.upjohninst.org].
Visiting in the U.S. and stopping by the department was Jong-Jung Lee (1979). CONTACT: Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs, 17-23 Yoido-Dong, Youngdeungpo-Gu, Seoul 150-010, Korea.
NEW INFORMATION REQUESTED
Thanks to those who have sent information. As you can tell, I edit out the crank mail and the unfit comments. To keep going with the process, we welcome updates in any form throughout the year–letter, vita, e-mail. The back page is a form you may use for reporting any item of interest to your peers. Remember that when it appears, it may be up to one year old news, but I assure you that your item catches the attention of someone. About twenty graduates per year simply send me comments of thanks for the newsletter. The thanks really belongs to the contributors. You can mail your material to Jim Murphy, Economics Dept. CB # 3305, UNC-CH, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3305; or email to Jim_Murphy@unc.edu.
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UNC ECONOMICS GRADUATE PROGRAM ALUMNI FILE UPDATE SEPTEMBER, 1999
1. Name — As UNC Student:_________________________________________________
Current (if different):_________________________________________________________
2. Family/household demographics you wish to include:
3. Current Address
(Home) ______________________________________
Phone ( )____________________________________________________
Email ___________________________
4. Current Position Title ____________________________________________________________________
Phone ( )______________
Address ______________________________________
Email ___________________________ ______________________________________
5. Comments, questions, other information:
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GRADUATE ALUMNI SURVEY UPDATE
6. Degree Year: M.A.__________ Ph.D.__________
Thesis/Dissertation Director: _______________________________________________
Other influential, worthwhile, or favorite faculty you wish to mention:
_________________________________________________________________________
7. First Position After Leaving UNC:
Title____________________________________
Employer___________________________________
8. Other Career Positions:
Title__________________ Title__________________
Employer______________ Employer______________
Years_________________ Years_________________
9. Year Entered UNC Graduate Program:__________
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PLEASE RETURN TO:
Jim Murphy
Department of Economics
CB# 3305, Gardner Hall
UNC-Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3305
email: jim_murphy@unc.edu