History of the Economics
Department
Evolution of the Economics Department
•In the late 1870’s, courses such as Economic
Geology and Political Economy are offered.
•In the early 1880’s a new course, School of
Economy, is created.
•In 1884 James W. Bell becomes first professor of
political economy and history.
•In 1906 the College of Commerce is established as
part of the College of Liberal Arts.
•In 1939 Economics is in the Department of
Economics, Sociology, Political Science, and
Anthropology Department.
•In the early 1950’s Economics is part of the
Department of Social Sciences.
•In 1956 the Economics Department is
independently listed by the University.
The Transient Economics Department
•1956-1959 located in Hellems
•1959-1966 located in Cristol Chemistry
•1966-1971 located in the Hellems Annex (present
day Education).
•1971-Present located in the Economics Building
(former location of the School of Business).
1956-57
Farr, Grant
Carr, Edwin
Dugan, James
El Mallakh,
Ragaei
Fishman, Leslie
Garnsey, Morris
Garret, Donald
McGuire, Carl
Zinke, George
Zubrow,
Reuben
1957-58
Owen, Wyn
1960-61
Brinser, Ayers
Mc Clurg,
Donald
Myers, John
1961-62
Hansen, Hugh
1962-63
Guha, Ashok
Miernyk,
William
1963-64
Bhargava, R. N.
Long, Neal Jr.
Uphoff, Walter
1965-66
Cassels, John
Dowling, J. Malcolm
Glahe, Fred
Johnson, Byron
Phillips, Edward
Poulson, Barry
Repas, Robert
Udis, Bernard
Winner of the Thomas
Jefferson Award
An Economics founding
faculty member, Professor
Zubrow was a special tax
consultant for Colorado,
Nevada, and Nebraska.
He was one of the senior
authors of the Governor’s
Colorado Tax Study which
formed the basis for the
state tax reform of 1959.
I choose economics
because the building
was closest to my
fraternity…I stayed
in economics
because I had
Zubrow.
-James Farquhar
BA 1986
An Economics founding faculty
member, Professor El Mallakh
co-founded the International
Research Center for Energy
and Economic Development
(ICEED). Professor El
Mallakh was a leading expert
on energy and its relation to
international economic
development.
An Economics founding faculty member,
Professor McGuire served as department chair
and co-founded the department center that
would later become the International Research
Center for Energy and Economic
Development. Thanks to a generous donation,
Economics Department excellence is furthered
through the Carl McGuire Center for
International Economics.
The first Economics Institute was
held in 1958 in Madison, Wisconsin
with Professor Owen as its director.
The next year the program was
brought to Boulder. In 1975, under
Professor Owen’s direction, the
Economics Institute expanded from
a summer program to a year-round
program providing training for
international students in business
and economics.
Professor Bud Udis joined
the Economics Department
in 1965. As a prominent
defense economist, Bud
considered issues ranging
from arms control, to
military procurement, to
trade in arms.
Barry Poulson joined the
Economics Department in
1965, specializing in
development economics and
economic history.
Professor Poulson has served as the President of the North
American Economics and Finance Association. Professor
Poulson is an adjunct scholar at the Heritage Foundation
and a Senior Fellow at the Independence Institute.
1966-67
1969-1970
1972-73
Hsiao, Sheng Tieh Frank
Snowberger, Vinson
Domont, Ronald G.
Powelson, John
Senesh, Lawrence
Helburn, Suzanne
1967-68
1970-71
Lee, Dwight R.
Boulding, Kenneth
Shimizu, Yoshio
1973-74
Geer, Marshall
Morris, John
Markusen, Ann
Morrissett, Irving
Howe, Charles
1975-76
1971-72
Eaton, Curtis
Davis, James
Lipsey, Richard
1968-69
Ballantyne, Arnold
Schrock, Nicholas
Singell, Larry
Mcnown, Robert
1976-1977
Lewis, Stephen
Brauch, Charles
Professor Frank Hsiao joined the
Economics Department in 1966. Working
in economic growth and mathematical
economics, Professor Hsiao became an
expert in East Asian development,
particularly with regard to Taiwan.
Professor Hsiao has been a Fulbright-Hays
Fellow and been a visiting professor at the
Hoover Institute, the Fairbank Center at
Harvard University, Kansai University, and
Nagoya University.
Professor Eaton is a University Professor
and Professor of Economics at Calgary
University. In his career as a
microeconomic theorist, Professor Eaton
has published over seventy scholarly
articles and books while serving on the
faculty at Calgary, the University of
Toronto, Simon Fraser University, and the
University of British Columbia.
Curtis Eaton, CU Economics B.A.
(1965) and CU Ph.D. (1969).
Professor Powelson joined the Economics Faculty in
1966. As a scholar, Professor Powelson published over
100 contributions through books and journal articles.
“In a sense, Economic Analysis
established my respectability so
that I have been able to be
disreputable ever since.”
Recipient of the Mahatma
Gandhi Prize for Non-Violent
Peace and the 4th Annual Lentz
International Peace Award.
Charles Howe joined the Economics
Faculty in 1970, serving as chair from
1972-76.
Professor Howe is currently serving
as the lead author on the water
resources chapter for the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC), as well as a
member of the World Water Vision
group sponsored by the World Bank
and UNESCO.
Professor Singell joined the
Economics Department in 1968. A
distinguished labor economist,
Larry provided departmental
leadership as Economics Chair for
two separate terms. Subsequently
Larry served as Dean of the Leeds
School of Business from 1993-1998
before returning to the Economics
Department.
1976-77
Lillydahl, Jane
Orr, Sarah
Trimble, John
1977-78
Bell, Trevor
Bramhall, David
McKee, Michael
Webb, Roy
1978-79
Graves, Philip
1979-80
Hertzmark, Donald
Thackray, Lydia
Ash,John
Bovet, Eric
1980-81
Greenwood, Michael
Hsiao, Mei-Chui
Morey, Edward
Mott, Tracey
Pacey, Patricia
1981-82
Kaempfer, William
Kim, Invhul
Kohli, Ulrich
Lehman, Dale
Maskus, Keith
Owen, Anthony
Potiowsky, Thomas
1982-83
Bradley, Michael
Orr, Douglas
1983-84
Alm, James
Bradley, Michael
1984-85
Akacem, Mohammed
Chen, Ming Chien
Kaempfer, William
Schulze, William
Waldman, Donald
1985-86
Guidotti, Pablo
Peters, Elizabeth
Roper, Donald
Michael Greenwood joined the
Economics Department in 1980. As
an urban and regional economist,
Professor Greenwood has
distinguished himself as a leading
expert on economic migration. For
many years Professor Greenwood
served as Director for the Center for
Economic Analysis.
After graduating from CU, Gary Hunt
worked for the Federal Reserve Bank of
Chicago, the University of Colorado
Center for Economic Analysis, East
Carolina University, and the University of
Maine. Hunt is currently a Professor of
Economics at the University of Maine,
continuing to work in demographic
economics, spatial economics, and
econometrics.
CU Economics Ph.D. 1984
1986-87
Cesario, Frank
Shaw, Douglass
Wang, Leonard
Sullivan, Richard
1987-88
Becker, Charles
Anayiotos, George
Kruse, Jamie
McKee, Michael
Pourgerami, Addas
Prince, Raymond
Shenfield, Arthur
1988-89
Byrns, Ralph
Foster, Gladys
Howrey, E. Philip
Lee, Byung-Joo
Olewiler. Nancy
Pezzey, John
Whittington, Leslie
Carr, Thomas
1989-90
Bruce, Neil
Cronshaw, Mark
Hunt, Gary
Zuchegno, Daniel
1990-91
Baghestani, Hamid
Carlos, Ann
Feeney, Joann
Gianoulades, Andrea
Khalil, Saadeldin
Markusen, James
Pelter, Barbara
Robles, Barbara
Zax, Jeffrey
Prince, Raymond
1991-92
Kaplan, Jules G.
Kohli, Ulrich
Kulkarni, Kishore
1992-93
Jung, Woo Sik
Kilkenny, Maureen
Rutherford, Thomas
Skoufias, Emmanuel
1993-94
de Bartolome, Charles
1994-95
Alston, Lee
1995-96
Flores, Nicholas
Beauchemin, Kenneth
Alberini, Anna
After graduating from CU in 1986,
Alok Bohara joined the faculty at
the University of New Mexico
where he is a Professor of
Economics. As an applied
econometrician, Professor Bohara
has worked in environmental and
development economics.
CU Economics Ph.D. 1986
CU Economics Ph.D. 1989
After graduating from CU, Leslie
joined the faculty at Georgetown
University where she became the
Associate Dean of the Institute
for Public Policy. Whittington’s
research focused on taxation and
family structure. Sadly Leslie
and her family died on
September 11, 2001.
James Markusen joined the CU faculty
in 1990 and served as department chair
from 1991–1995. Professor Markusen
has held the Stanford Calderwood
Endowed Economics Chair at CU and in
2001 won the Jagdish Bhagwati Award
for the most influential publication in
international economics for 2000-2001.
In 2006 Professor Markusen was
designated a University of Colorado
Distinguished Professor.
1996-97
Robles, Jack
Chen, Yongmin
Holland, Steven
Morrow, Don
Zhang, Kevin
1998-99
Boileau, Martin
Canals-Cerda,
Jose
Carr, David
1999-2000
Janeba, Eckhard
McKinnish, Terra
2000-2001
Iyigun, Murat
2001-02
Pessach, Anna R.
Walsh, Randall
2002-03
Mobarak, Amhed Mushfiq
Rubunchik, Anna
2003-04
Alston, Lee
Savage, Scott
Wang, Ruqu
2004-2005
Mertens, William
Small, Rachel
2005-2006
Keller, Wolfgang
Shiue, Carol
Jennifer Lamping
Tania Barham
2006-2007
Demirel, Ufuk Devrim
Utar, Hale
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Nicholas Flores – City of Aspen, US
EPA, National Center for Earth Surface
Dynamics.
Barry Poulson – Colorado Commission
on Taxation, Center for Economic
Education, Independence Institute.
Jeffrey Zax – Colorado Departments of
Transportation, Human ServicesTerra
McKinnish – National Hunger Survey,
Boulder County Food Bank.
Edward Morey – National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration.
Donald Waldman – National Weather
Service, US EPA.
Tania Barham- World Band,
Nicaragua, Yemen.
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Mushfiq Mobarak – Economics
development Bangladesh, Brazil.
Scott Savage – Communications
policy advisor Botswana, Tanzania.
Keith Maskus – Egypt, Indonesia,
China, Lebanon, World Health
Organization, World Intellectual
Property Organization.
James Markusen – Royal
Commission on Economic Union
and Development Prospects,
Mexico’s Ministry of Trade.
Yongmin Chen – U.S. Department
of Justice, Swedish Competition
Authority.
Michael Greenwood – U.S.
Commission for Immigration
Reform.
Dr. Tucker Hart Adams
Beverly A. Berman
James C. Campbell
Alan Cohen
Dr. Kathleen B. Cooper
James Fish
Venita VanCaspell Harris
Richard Meckley
Andrew Safire
Edward G. Sanders
Dr. Chester N. Winter
Dr. Deloris Wright
Professor Luize E. Zubrow