Past Speakers and Events

2009 - 2010:
Dr. Dirk Mateer, a professor of economics at Penn State University, gave a presentation called 'Dismal Science? Hardly. Using Popular Culture to Make Economics Engaging.'
February 18, 2010: Economist and Philosopher David Schmidtz, who currently teaches The Ethics and Economics of Wealth Creation gave an interesting lecture on "What teachers owe students."
February 4, 2010: The UA econ society held its annual faculty/student poker tournament. Congratulations to our top 3 finishers out of 30.
January 21, 2010: UA Econ grad and current UA Law student spoke about how a UA econ degree has helped her, both in teaching jr. high through the City Year program, and in law school.
December 3, 2009: Eller Economics Advisor Steve Michel gave a very timely presentation about his 30 years working in the healthcare industry, and what future of healthcare in America may look like.
November 19, 2009: Eller College Dean Paul Portney, an environmental economist, gave a short talk about the role of economics in the discussion on climate change.
November 5, 2009: Following an experiment in the Economic Science Laboratory, Professors Anna Breman and Manuela Angelucci explained their research regarding stress and productivity in the workplace.
October 22, 2009: UA Economics alummi Elijah Ostro and Brittany Smith of Semler Brossy Consulting Group gave a presentation on executive compensation and the challenge of balancing strategic and retention needs in the uncertain climate of an economic downturn.
October 8, 2009: Marshall Vest, Director of the Economic and Business Research Center gave a fascinating talk about using econometric modeling to predict the future of population and economic growth in Arizona.
September 24, 2009: Economic history professor Price Fishback spoke about the details of public works programs during the New Deal.

2008 - 2009:

May 4, 2009: The First Annual Economics Society Banquet at the Marriott University Park Hotel was a raging success! We look forward to seeing even more Economics students and faculty at the ESUA Banquet next year!
April 23, 2009: Economics Society hosted Yoram Bauman, the world's first and only "Stand Up Economist". Undergraduate students, graduate students, and faculty from the Economics department all enjoyed Yoram's comedy show - humor we could relate to!
April 16, 2009: At the final meeting of the semester, we held elections for the 2009-2010 officers and handed out ESUA polos. If you ordered a polo and have not yet received it, make sure to be at the Yoram Bauman event on April 23rd to pick it up.
April 2, 2009: Econ Society hosted a social at Golf n Stuff. Members decided they are better at economics than mini-golf.
March 26, 2009: Ryan Faust, 2004 UA Economics graduate, spoke about his career as an analyst with Sargent Controls & Aerospace for the last 3 1/2 years, focusing on his career path and daily responsibilities.
March 10, 2009: Professor Gerald Swanson presented his talk "Is It All Downhill From Here?" about the current state of the economy, how we got here, and what the future holds.
February 26, 2009: Vanessa Valenzuela, 2008 UA Economics graduate and former Econ Society President, spoke on her experiences as a Teach for America corps member in Phoenix and how economics influences her daily teaching methods.
February 19, 2009: Econ Society members enjoyed a fun-filled night of bowling at Lucky Strike Lanes.
February 17, 2009: UA Economics alumni Elijah Ostro and Anne McGettigan from Semler Brossy Consulting Group in Los Angeles held an information session about careers in executive compensation consulting with SBCG.
February 5, 2009: Sean Small, 2007 UA Economics graduate, discussed his career with Compass Lexecon, one of the world's leading economics consulting firms.
January 22, 2009: UA Professor Gautam Gowrisankaran discussed his recent economic research regarding the effects health care ratings disclosure.

2007 - 2008:

November 1, 2007: Professor Jonah Gelbach spoke about the effects of relative prices on obesity.
October 18, 2007 Clay Condon, former UA Student and Econ Society President, spoke on his career in the oil industry in Qatar.
October 4, 2007: Professor Bill Bowen of the UA spoke on "How My Economics Major Influenced My Career."
September 6, 2007: Dean Paul Portney of the Eller College spoke on the Economics of Climate Change.

2006 - 2007:

April 24, 2007: The Economics Society held its semesterly poker tournament.
April 12, 2007: Noah Knauf, UA alumnus from 2001, spoke on MBAs and top business schools.
March 22, 2007: Professor Ron Oaxaca of the UA spoke about his research on criminal sentencing.
March 1, 2007: Crystal Millican of Semler Brossy Consulting and recent UA Graduate spoke about her career in consulting and job opportuities for Economics majors.
November 30, 2006: Ryan Johnson, former President of the UA Economics Society, spoke on initiating research projects while an undergraduate student.
November 2, 2006: Ian Larkin of UC Berkeley and formerly of McKinsey Consulting spoke on opportuities for Economics Majors after graduation.
October 26, 2006: The Economics Society held its semesterly poker tournament.
September 7, 2006: Dr. Fishback of the UA spoke on his research on the Progressive Era and New Deal programs.

2005 - 2006:

April 27, 2006: Professor Alfonso Flores-Lagunes of the UA spoke on the effectiveness of minority training programs.
April 13, 2006: Brian McManus spoke on Price Discrimination at Starbucks.
April 6, 2006: Dr. Joseph Kalt of the UA spoke on the outlook of the discpline of Economics in the academic, public and private sectors.
March 23, 2006: The Economics Society held its semesterly poker tournament and class preview day.
March 2, 2006: Professor Kei Hirano of the UA spoke on Econometrics and the implications and use of Bayes' Theorem.
Feburary 16, 2006: Dr. Steven Dickerson, Director of Risk Capabilities for American Express, spoke on his career in economics.
Feburary 2, 2006: Dr. Gerald Swanson of the UA spoke on current problems facing the U.S. economy as well as a long term forecast of such.
December 7: The Economics Society hosted the first faculty-student poker tournament. Congratulations to the top finishers amongst 39 competitors.

1st place-Brandon Nagy, junior. 2nd place-Adam Baker, senior. 3rd place-Professor Mark Stegman.

November 29:

Barclays economist Ken Kroner gave a presentation titled, "An Economics Career in the Financial Sector"

Topics Dr. Kroner discussed:

* Who is Barclays Global Investors?
* The importance of economics and economists in the money management industry
* Preparing yourself for a job at BGI (or, what we look for when recruiting)
* My career path and current role at BGI
* How we forecast the economy
* Our current economic and financial market views
* Is it possible to "beat the markets" consistently?

November 17: Mark Stegman (below), visiting professor from Virginia Tech, gave a presentation titled: "A Theory of Leadership Based on Assignment of Information."

October 20: Eller College Executive in Residence, Mr. William Bowen, who is a former Vice Chairman of Heidrick & Struggles, a leading executive search firm, gave a presentation entitled: "An Economics Degree: a Plus for your Career."
September 22: Prof. Dufwenberg of the Department of Economics gave a presentation on "Financial Market Bubbles and Experience: An Experiment on Speculation."

2003-2004:

April 20: Sean Gray, Megan Eklund, and Kim Avery discussed careers for econ majors and career resources available at the Eller College.
March 24: Ramya Sundaram discussed the economics of marriage.
February 25: Gerald Swanson gave a presentation called, "All News is Economic and All Economic News is Bad."
January 27: Jen Shang (Psychology Graduate Student from U Penn) gave a presentation called, "Social Comparisons and Public Goods Provision: Field Experiments in Nonprofit Fundraising"
November 19: Greg Crawford discussed the economics of the cable TV industry.
October 28: Laura Roberts, CEO of Pantheon Chemical, spoke about how her economics background has helped her career.
October 8: Alex Sugiyama spoke about career preparation, preparing resumes and preparing for interviews.
September 11: David Reiley discussed experimental evidence in charitable giving.