Student achievements

Independent study One of the rewards of teaching is to be able to support and mentor students during their own independent research projects. I was privileged to be the senior thesis advisor for original work investigating social and economic factors promoting academic and professional success. Other independent studies have included an investigation of bridge loans, an application of interest rate parity to the recent history of the dollar/euro exchange rate, study of derivatives and term structure of interest rates, and currently, a case study of Philippine immigration, and an analysis of micro lending. Class projects I have enjoyed the results of letting students pick research topics for class projects in courses where the focus makes this a good exercise. Two students partnered an original paper that constructed and estimated a model of economic growth from measures of educational attainment taken from Harvard series of educational data. Two students used a neoclassical growth model to assess the impact of mortality in southern Africa on productivity and economic growth. Another team coauthored a paper on demographic and geographic explanation of the southeast Asian growth miracle. The paper’s prose and clarity of purpose was outstanding. Another team chose to apply a neoclassical model to island economics that had suffered severe disasters in order to measure rates of capital accumulation during recovery. Another student completed an analysis of economic growth in India and a comparison with other Southeast Asian economies, demonstrating a remarkable independence and follow through in this self-initiated and self-directed project.

Letters of recommendation I enjoy responding to students’ needs for support for the next stage of their academic careers. I have written letters of recommendation for three students, all who were successfully accepted into medical school. I recommended, a student now accepted in Northwestern University’s Masters Program in Economics, who has now completed applications to doctoral program in economics.. I also wrote a letters of recommendation to file for a student who may consider graduate work in finance who already has impressive experience in stints at analysts brokerage firms and investment banks and is currently working at a boutique investment bank on the east coast. As a teaching assistant in econometrics, I organized an after hours session in math since the professor was using linear algebra which most of the class had not studied. It was such a satisfying experience to watch and participate in building this dynamic group of about 10 people. As the group got going on this difficult task, the hard work and will to succeed was extraordinary. I remember at some point, someone asked me a question, and was immediately answered by another who said, enthusiastically, ‘Let me, I can explain that’. Two students from this group raised their evaluations from B to A. One student picked raised himself from C level work to a course grade of A-.