School of Arts and Sciences
Department of Economics

Department Highlights: 2018-2019

Awards and Accolades:

  • Thanks to a very generous gift, Christopher Manos has been named the B.L.R. Professor of the Practice in the Department of Economics.
  • Thomas Downes has been awarded the 2019 Professor of the Year Award by the Tufts Economics Society.
  • Gilbert Metcalf has been awarded the 2019 Graduate Professor of the Year in Economics by the Tufts Economics graduate students.
  • Congratulations to Laura K. Gee on her promotion to the rank of Associate Professor, effective July 1, 2019.

Comings and Goings:

We look forward to welcoming several new faculty members, whose contributions will help to ensure the quality of research and teaching at Tufts University, for many years to come.

  • In Fall 2018, we welcomed Assistant Professor Cynthia Kinnan (formerly of Northwestern University), a development economist whose work focuses on how households in developing countries use financial products and informal insurance networks.
  • Also in Fall 2018, Elizabeth Setren joined us as Gunner Myrdal Assistant Professor in Labor Economics. Elizabeth is a labor economist with special expertise in education, and just completed a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at the National Bureau of Economic Research.
  • In Fall 2019, Eoin McGuirk joined the Economics Department as Assistant Professor. His research explores the intersection of development economics and political economy, with particular emphasis on the economic roots of political violence and ethnic divisions.

With reluctance, we must bid a fond farewell to Professor Kelsey Jack who has accepted a position with the University of California-Santa Barbara. Everyone at Tufts knows how much Professor Jack will bring to the UCSB campus and so, how very much we will miss her here at Tufts. We wish she were not going, but even more, we wish her all the best...and hope she will visit us often in the future.

Nationals assistant GM Mike DeBartolo '06 got his dream job:
Mike DeBartolo '06 became an assistant GM for the Washington Nationals in March 2019. Read about his journey.

Promotion:
Congratulations to Adam Storeygard who was promoted in July 2018 to the rank of Associate Professor without limit of time–commonly known as having tenure. Adam has been at Tufts since 2012. He is an outstanding scholar-teacher and very much deserving of this promotion. Congratulations again to Adam.

News from Greece:
On June 5, 2018, Max and Herta Neubauer Chair and Professor of Economics Yannis M. Ioannides delivered his inaugural lecture as a corresponding member of the Academy of Athens. As a Greek citizen but non-Athens resident, this is the highest award the Academy can bestow. Yanni's lecture, titled "Cities Ancient, Medieval, Modern: an Economics Perspective," was delivered in Greek and drew on Yanni's long-standing research on urban systems, and his knowledge of ancient Greece. The lecture was appropriately delivered in the main building of the Academy on Panepistimiou Street, in the midst of some of the most beautiful neoclassical buildings in the world. An English version of the lecture will be available as a working paper later in the year.

Commencement 2018:
Commencement weekend was, as usual, a festive time for the Department. Both our annual departmental reception (on Saturday) and the actual commencement ceremony were happy events that ran smoothly thanks to the very hard work of our staff: Debra Knox, Linda Casey, and Marcus Weir. Our thanks to this fabulous team (and to their family members who also helped greatly). We will upload commencement photos shortly. However, if you have any photos that you would like to share, please send them to: debra.knox@tufts.edu.

Endowed Chairs:
The scholarly achievements of three members of the Economics Department have been recognized with the awarding of three endowed chairs.

  • Professor Gilbert Metcalf has received an appointment as senior endowed chair, as John DiBiaggio Chair in Citizenship and Public Service.
  • Professor Enrico Spolaore has received an appointment as senior endowed chair, as the Seth Merrin Professorship.
  • Assistant Professor Kyle Emerick has been named to the James L. Paddock Junior Professorship in International Economics. This chair, previously held by our own Professor Kelsey Jack, is reserved for outstanding junior faculty.

Undergraduate Teaching Award:
In May 2018, the Economics Society recognized Professor David Garman as the outstanding professor in Economics with respect to undergraduate teaching. This is the second time Professor Garman has been honored this way, in the relatively short time that this award has been granted. Congratulations to David for this fine achievement.

Faculty Highlights