In the Spotlight

Jordan Franks, UMSL Econ Alum, Launches Taste of Jack’s Salsa

In July 2023 Barb Flowers (BS  1990, MA 1999) talked to NPR About Barbie and Women’s Careers.

New graduate Imogen Bennett grows through experiences on soccer field and in school at UMSL

UMSL ECON MA 2022 grad Joel Fecke landed plum data science position at SAS upon graduation.

Congratulations to Marcela Manjarrez, BS 1998, who received a 2022 Distinguished Alumni Award from UMSL.

 The 2022 Distinguished Alumni Award was presented to (top to bottom, left to right) Shawntelle Fisher, Steve Hamilton, Marcela Manjarrez, Dick Jung and Dawn King. Candace Hall (bottom right) was the recipient of the Outstanding Young Alumni Award. (Photos by August Jennewein/provided)

UMSL Daily- Read about Natalie Orf

Internal drive, supportive family help Natalie Orf juggle parenting, school to earn economics degree

UMSL Tutoring Lab (Sharon G. Levin Economic Resource Center) featured in UMSL Daily, 12/13/21

Mentors, friends shape economics graduate Alyssa Leibold’s experience at UMSL

Alyssa Leibold graduated with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in economics after completing the BS/MA Dual Degree Program.

Marie Mora joins panel at the Women in Economics Symposium | UMSL Daily

Marie Mora, UMSL’s provost and executive vice chancellor for academic affairs, joined a panel moderated by Gail Heyne Hafer last Thursday during the second night of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis’ Women in Economics Symposium. The other panelists were Lisa Cook and Abigail Wozniak.

Ask an expert: Lea-Rachel Kosnik discusses renewed focus on climate action and its connection to economics

Professor Lea-Rachel Kosnik researches environmental economics and energy economics and has authored papers published in such journals as Economics of Disasters and Climate Change, Journal of Benefit Cost Analysis, Climatic Change and the International Review of Law and Economics. Read more here

Mike Allison helped UMSL and the Department of Economics pivot to online learning at the start of the COVID pandemic in spring 2020

Read more here

Jake Krutzsch (BS/MA) student provided advice to new UMSL students as an UMSL Student Ambassador

Read more here

Marie Mora receives Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring

Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Marie Mora was one of 11 individual recipients of Presidential Awards for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring. Read more here.

Alyssa Leibold co-authors paper modeling pandemic plans

Economics alumna Lauren Dickens supports students, faculty at St. Charles Community College

During her first year at the University of Missouri–St. Louis, Lauren Dickens took "Principles of Microeconomics” with Susan Feigenbaum, curators’ distinguished teaching professor emerita, and loved it. She changed her major to economics and embarked on a career that led her from the UMSL College of Arts and Sciences to St. Charles Community College, where she was named dean of health and technical sciences in April. Read more here.

Terran Hill bound for prestigious law school after earning degree in economics

Spring 2020 graduate Terran Hill found support and friendship in UMSL’s close-knit Department of Economics, and the knowledge he gained helped prepare him to reach his next goal: law school. He now plans to attend Cornell Law School. Read more here.
 

UMSL faculty, students featured on St. Louis Fed’s ‘Women in Economics’ podcast

Associate Provost Marie Mora (right) responds to a question during a recording of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis’ “Women in Economics” podcast on Feb. 20 in the J.C. Penney Conference Center. Mora and Professor Lea-Rachel Kosnik (left) were guests of host Mary Suiter (center), and the show, released March 31, also featured conversations with UMSL economics students Maia Elkana (who obtained her MA in Spring 2020), Ashlee Sprock, Hannah Drury, Geraldine Germain, and Sindi Ceta. Read more here.  

Economics Chair Anne Winkler shared her insights into the COVID-19 crisis with a WalletHub panel in June. UMSL Daily
 

 Economics Alum Tom Minogue receives Business Journal C-Suite Awards

The St. Louis Business Journal celebrated local business leaders working in a variety of roles and across different industries last week when it presented its first-ever C-Suite Awards.

The honorees included a trio of alumni from the University of Missouri–St. Louis.

Tom Minogue, a 1976 graduate in economics, received the top honor, the Legacy Award, in recognition of his roughly two decades of leadership as chairman of Thompson Coburn LLP.

“It was unexpected and humbling,” Minogue said of his award. “I’ve actually gotten to give away a lot of awards at Business Journal events over the years and have been somebody who would introduce people. This was the first award I’ve gotten from the Business Journal.” Read more here

Former Green Card Lottery winner Ehsan Davarzany earns master’s degree in economics

Ehsan Davarzany, a native of Iran, earned his master’s degree in economics from UMSL six years after immigrating to the United States after winning the Diversity Visa Lottery. Read about it in UMSL Daily.

Maia Elkana (MA 2020) advocates for families with power of math

By trade, Maia Elkana is a social worker, nonprofit founder and doula. To really understand her, though, you need to know that she’s a self-identified math nerd who loves solving problems.

“When I took linear algebra, it was the most fun class I’ve ever taken in my whole college career,” she said. “I say that unironically. I’m so serious. It’s really fun.”

Elkana, a University of Missouri–St. Louis MA Economics Spring 2020 graduate , wants to use math – economic and statistical modeling – to rethink how public policy serves children and families. She’s also confident it can help nonprofits aid those in need more effectively. Read more here.

Karl Guenther (MA 2018) appointed director of UMSL’s Anchor Institution Initiative

Read article here

A new role for UMSL Econ Alum Tom Minogue (BA 1976)!

Led by Chair Tom Minogue, St. Louis Regional Chamber 

launches Regional Economic Development Alliance

www.thompsoncoburn.com

The St. Louis Regional Chamber has launched an independent subsidiary focused exclusively on economic development and business recruitment in the St. Louis metropolitan area, the St. Louis Regional Economic Development Alliance. Thompson Coburn Chairman Tom Minogue, the board chair of the St. Louis Regional Chamber, has joined the Alliance's board, along with the 14 other top executives from businesses across the metro region. Read more here

Alumnus Nate Oatis (BA 2019) aims to help kids overcome trauma by teaching mindfulness, meditation

Nate Oatis can explain his purpose in a single story, one that resides at the forefront of his memory.

It is sure to linger, too, in the minds of people with whom he shares it.

The year was 2017. His wife, Heather, was teaching English language arts to seventh-graders at   Yeatman-Liddell Preparatory Middle School  on the north side of St. Louis. That year, she lost three of her students to gun violence and another to the juvenile justice system.

That June, Oatis was joining her at the latest funeral – for a 13-year-old known as Little Anthony. He and Heather were seated among the congregation when Anthony’s friend, Maquist, joined them.

“I could feel him fight back and holding these tears,” Oatis said. “A 13-year-old trying to be manly and tough at a funeral for his friend, who succumbed to gun violence.”

Oatis remembers putting his arm around the boy and embracing him.

“He just melted, man, just started sobbing.” Oatis said. “And it absolutely broke my heart.”

It also called Oatis into action. Read more here

Anne Winkler delivers plenary talk at Conference on Teaching and Research in Economic Education

Anne Winkler  shares a goal with the American Economic Association’s Committee on Economic Education.

Namely, the chair of the Department of Economics  at the University of Missouri–St. Louis wants to see students get excited about economics and aims to encourage them to major in the discipline and work in the field.

Winkler is particularly motivated to help bring more women and underrepresented groups into the profession – something she knows starts with grabbing their attention and piquing their interest in their first principles classes.

“We need to do a better job of helping students see how incredibly interesting and relevant economics is,” Winkler said. Read more here

Congratulations to Dr. Trung Ly (BS 2011, MA 2013), a brand new Econ PhD from Notre Dame!

Trung is pictured with his wife Ai-Anh and daughter Athena (who loved the cap!). Trung will join the Department of Economics at Univ of West Georgia as a tenure-track assistant professor!

(Right) Trung Ly presented his poster on "A Qualitative Analysis of Economic Growth in the United States from 1970 to 2008" at the 2010 Undergraduate School Research Fair.  Trung began the Economics PhD program at Notre Dame in Fall 2013.

Continuous improvement a recurrent theme for May dual-degree economics grad Nicolette Seder (BS/MA 2018)

For the past seven years, Nicolette Seder has not been able to shake the feeling of being in near-constant motion.

Motherhood, a full-time job and pursuing two degrees will do that to you.

“I never take breaks. I don’t eat lunch,” Seder said. “No, just kidding. But sort of.”

She has to make sure her 7-year-old daughter, Skylar, gets to school by 7:35. Then it’s off to work at Unyson Logistics, where she serves as a senior continuous improvement analyst. Then to the campus of the University of Missouri–St. Louis, where she is finishing up a BS and MA in economics through a 2+3 program. - UMSL Daily

Read more here

UMSL Econ Alum, Jesse Wolfersberger (MA 2009) appeared on the cover of Incentive Magazine in April 2019.  

He is Chief Data Officer for Maritz Motivation Solutions. Incentive Magazine website

Economics alumna leads St. Louis Fed’s award-winning education initiatives

Suiter, a University of Missouri–St. Louis alumna and the assistant vice president and economic education officer at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, was in London for the Central Banking Awards, accepting an award for the St. Louis Fed’s financial inclusion initiatives.

She hobnobbed with colleagues from countries such as Australia, South Africa, Luxembourg, Israel, Ukraine, China and Malaysia at the London Marriott Hotel in Grosvenor Square, less than two miles from Buckingham Palace. After accepting the award, she had her picture taken with the trophy in front of a backdrop.  - UMSL Daily 

See more here

  See link to paper published in Health Services Review on hospital readmissions. Co-authored by UMSL Econ alum Mat Reidhead (BS/MA 2006):

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1475-6773.13133

Dave Rose, Professor of Economics at UMSL, has a new book just published by Oxford University Press called Why Culture Matters Most.

Economics Alumna Stefaniya Ivanova (BS 2018) is set to begin a temporary job at TD Ameritrade after graduating  in December.

 She also has a degree in mathematics.  See article here.

Economics Professor Emerita Susan Feigenbaum was recently featured in UMSL Daily

where she was interviewed about Proud to Be First Scholars Program, which will provide professional guidance to first generation college students here at UMSL.

It will launch Fall 2019. She and her husband Dr. Jay S.Pepose  hope to increase the likelihood of these students succeeding.
See article here.

Natalie Orf is the first recipient of the Manjarrez Hawn and Centene Charitable Foundation        Scholarship in Economics!   

UMSL's Department of Economics 2017 Alumni Award recipient Mary Suiter was a guest columnist in the April 3, 2018 edition of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

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The Department held an event at Gallery 210 on campus to celebrate the accomplishments of Sharon G. Levin on Wed, Jan 31, 2018. At this event, the ERC was renamed in honor of Sharon.

It is now the Sharon G. Levin Economic Resource Center. To read more about Sharon Levin and the event, visit UMSL Daily.

Please consider contributing to the brand new Sharon G. Levin ERC Support Fund.

It is actually easy because UMSL Development created a direct link: Give online or by mail: Dept of Economics, 408 SSB, UMSL, One University Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63121.   

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Susan Feigenbaum was the commencement speaker for the College of Arts & Sciences graduation in May 2018.  

And recently she was interviewed by Mary Suiter for the St. Louis Fed’s Women in Economics series! Here's a link to the podcast and a full transcript: 

https: //www.stloui sfed.org/timely-topics/women-in-economics/susan-feigenbaum

 

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Professor Anne E. Winkler discussed the gender wage gap and barriers women still face in the labor market in the March 26, 2018 edition of UMSL Daily's " Ask an Expert" feature.  

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In January 2018, Victor Potopov (MA 2000) became Senior Manager, Big Data Analytics & Data Science at EY in Toronto.

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Lauren Block Dickens (BS/MA 2008) is now Dean of Business, Science, Education, Math, Computer Science at St. Charles Community College. 

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Recent Econ graduate Matt Segrist (BS/MA 2017) is featured on an UMSL billboard.

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Econ student Jordan Lucas (BS 2017, MA 2019) spends summer interning in Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill's Washington DC office.   

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  Marcela Manjarrez Hawn (BS 1998) was a recent recipient of the
  St. Louis Business Journal's Diverse Business Leader Award.

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Professor Anne E. Winkler and co-author Francine D. Blau have published the 8 ^th edition of The Economics of Women, Men, and Work with Oxford University Press.

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 May 2018 graduate Emma Nix lands a new policy analyst position at PJM in Philadelphia.    

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Economics graduate Matt Segrist (BS/MA 2017) to apply lessons learned at UMSL in new job at Post Holdings.

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Provenance Spring 2017 article on Adam Richardson (BS/MA 2011), Manager of Data Science and Advanced Analytics at Centene Corporation.

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Economic Resource Center highlighted as "unofficial hub of the Econ Dept."

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Sharon Levin, professor emerita, was quoted in the New York Times on May 18, 2017.  Sharon is an expert in the economics of science.  

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The November 20, 2016 UMSL Daily featured Economics Professor Sel Dibooglu, who was the keynote speaker at the recent International Congress of Money, Economy and Policy in Istanbul,Turkey.

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Read about alumni Majana Reis (BS/MA 2005) in the September 16, 2016 issue of St. Louis Magazine.  Cathy  Lander-Goldberg's article " Resilient Souls: A Photography Exhibit About Growing Up" features Majana in the first two photographs. Read more about  Majana (BS/MA 2005) in this December 6, 2016 UMSL Daily article.

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Alumna Andrea Ellis (BS 2015) on how her time at UMSL helps her manage work, law school and the National Guard.

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Congratulations to Economics student Meagan Burwell (BS/MA 2019), who was recently featured in the UMSL Daily and is being honored as a recipient of the College of Arts and Science’s Eugene Meehan Scholarship!.

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Karl Guenther, current MA Econ student and a community development specialist in the Public Policy Research Center, has received the Emerging Leader Award from the Missouri Workforce Housing Association. Congratulations, Karl!

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The UMSL Department of Economics has become an official sponsor of the International Congress of Management, Economy, and Policy, an international conference held each November in Istanbul, Turkey. Professor Sel Dibooglu will be a keynote speaker at the 2016 conference.

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Rudy Fichtenbaum (BS 1976), Professor Emeritus at Wright State University, is serving a third term as president of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP). Rudy retired last year from Wright State University after a 35 year career there.

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Richard Caroll (BA 2008) has been traveling the world in recent years doing freelance work. He had an article published on August 2, 2016 in The National Interest that discusses recent geopolitical events occurring in the South China Sea. The article cites research by faculty member David Rose.

Professor Dave Rose (pictured) has been asked to serve a second term on the Missouri Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.

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Professor Susan Feigenbaum has been recently named as one of 14 “leading experts" from the Midwest region to serve as inaugural members of the Midwest Comparative Effectiveness Public Advisory Council (Midwest CEPAC). This is a health advisory group that will review findings on new drugs.

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Congratulations to student Hagen Montano, who has been accepted into the MA in Philosophy of the Social Sciences program at the London School of Economics! Hagen is graduating from UMSL with a BS in Economics in May 2016.

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Exciting news! Effective May 1, 2016, our own Economics alum Richard Baniak will be UMSL's new Chief Financial Officer! Richard earned his BS in Economics in 1986, and his Economics MA in 1995. He will be retiring as Divisional CFO of Advanced Products for The Boeing Company to join UMSL as the new Vice Chancellor for Administration - CFO. Congratulations, Rick!

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Congratulations to Associate Professor Lea Kosnik, who is now the President-Elect of the Transportation and Public Utility Group (TPUG). PUG is an international forum for researchers and practitioners interested in the economics of and public policies towards the transportation and public utilities industries.

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Officers at the TPUG Reception at the American Economic Association's January 2016 Annual Meeting. (L-R) John Mayo (Georgetown University), outgoing President, Pat McCarthy (Georgia Institute of Technology), incoming President, and Lea Kosnik, President-Elect.

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We're pleased to announce that the 2015 UMSL Department of Economics Alumni Award was presented in April to Bruce Welz (MA 1980), retired Associate Professor from St. Charles Community College. Bruce has had a 30+ year relationship with the department. Most recently, he established a scholarship in the department as a tribute to the late emeritus professor, Robert Loring Allen.

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Marcela Manjarrez Hawn (BS 1998) is now Senior Vice President and Chief Communications Officer at Centene. In her new position, she will oversee strategic communications and report directly to the Chairman/CEO of Centene. From 1998, when she graduated with her BS in Economics from UMSL, through 2007, she worked as an Economic Research Analyst. She then worked in a number of different capacities, including Special Assistant to the President at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, and then Public Affairs Officer. Most recently, from 2012 to 2014, she held the position of Vice President, Public Affairs, at the Federal Reserve Bank.

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Tom Minogue, BS Economics 1976, is serving as the President of the Chancellor’s Council at UMSL. Minogue, who is chairman of Thompson Coburn, LLP law firm, received his law degree from Harvard University. As quoted in the December 7, 2014, UMSL Daily, “It was a very easy ‘yes’ for me,” Minogue says. “UMSL was in the right place at the right time for me in the 1970s, and I figured if I could give back to the university in some way that would be a great thing. The university was the foundation of my life both from a family and career perspective. Last year, Minogue spoke on behalf of UMSL alumni at UMSL’s 50 ^th anniversary dinner. UPDATE: And Tom has the distinction of being the first UMSL|Economics alum to be on a billboard!

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Michael Thomas (MA 2005) began a tenure track position in the Economics and Finance Department of the Heider College of Business at Creighton University in Fall 2014.

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Keith Guller (BS 1976) received an Honorary Degree from UMSL at the August 2014 Commencement. Keith Guller is president, chief operating officer and chief executive officer of Essex Industries, Inc. He has also been a longtime supporter of the Department of Economics.

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Dave Sanders (MA 2006), Adjunct Instructor in our Department since the Spring 2006 semester, has taken a full-time position as Economics Instructor at Saint Louis University.

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Tom Kruckmeyer (MA 1977) recently wrote a paper with co-author Sarah Steelman titled “College Athletes Everywhere Just Wanna Be Free.” For more information, go to Big College Sports Economics. Tom held the position of Chief Economist for the Missouri Office of Administration-Division of Budget & Planning from 1978-2004.

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Yvetta (Travnickova) Fortova (BA/BS 2004), a Senior Research Associate at the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank, works as part of the Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED) Team. She and the rest of the FRED team were featured in the Sunday, August 3, 2014 St. Louis Post-Dispatch article titled “Fed’s Data Rock Stars Work Here". Access FRED.

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We're pleased to announce that the 2014 UMSL Department of Economics Alumni Award was presented in May to Jesse Wolfersberger (MA 2009), Director of Consumer Insights at GroupM Next. Congratulations, Jesse, and thank you for your support!

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Thomas Briggs (MA 2013) presenting his poster at the 2012 Undergraduate School Research Fair.  Thomas began the Economics PhD program at Colorado State in Fall 2014.

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Congratulations to alum Aaron Johnson (BS 1994, MA 2000), who is an Assistant Professor of Economics at Darton State College. Aaron was featured in an interview in the February 21, 2014 edition of the Albany Herald (Georgia)! See On The Job with Aaron Johnson. (Aaron says that his most beneficial class was Introduction to Econometrics, taught by Professor Anne Winkler!)

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ECONOMICS FRONT OFFICE FACES THROUGH THE YEARS...

Three consecutive department Administrative Associates (aka Business Support Specialists) at the 2013 Holiday Party - L-R Debra Garcia (2002 to 2012), Judy Cates (2012 to present), Gloria Axe (1977 to 2002)