A Short Bio and Some Photos

A Short Bio

Bio

I was born and raised on the Big Island of Hawaii (also called Hawaii Island). In 1989, I graduated from Konawaena High School (salutatorian) and subsequently moved to Honolulu, Oahu where I attended the University of Hawaii at Manoa on the Regents Scholarship. Although I began college with the intention of studying mathematics, I soon found that my true interest was in economics. In 1993, I graduated (summa cum laude) from the University of Hawaii at Manoa with a B.A. in Economics. The following fall, I started my graduate studies in Economics. In 1996, I earned an M.A. in Economics from the University of Southern California and then my Ph.D. in Economics also from USC in December of 2002.

In the fall of 2000, I moved to Waco, Texas to work in the Economics Department of Baylor University where I am currently Professor of Economics and the inaugural Hankamer Teaching Fellow. I serve on the Committee on Economic Education (CEE) of the American Economic Association (AEA) (2009-2016, 2022-present) including serving on the program committee for the Conference on Teaching and Research in Economic Education (CTREE, 2011-2013, 2022-present) and chairing the program committee for the 2013 CTREE. Related to my work for the AEA’s CEE and my economic education research, I am a facilitator for EDUCATE (Expanding Diversity in Undergraduate Classes with Advancements in (the) Teaching (of) Economics). My editorial work includes serving as a Co-Editor for the Southern Economic Journal and on the Editorial Board for the International Review of Economics Education. In the past, I served as an Associate Editor for the Journal of Economic Education (2011-2017). Additionally, I currently serve on the AP Macroeconomics Development Committee (2020-present, Higher Education Co-chair 2021-2022).

In 2016, I was awarded the Kenneth G. Elzinga Distinguished Teaching Award by the Southern Economic Association. In February 2022, I was honored to give one of the keynote addresses at the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank’s annual Women in Economics Symposium and in July 2022, I gave the keynote address for the Australasian Teaching Economics Conference (ATEC).

When she is not away at college, I enjoy spending time with my daughter, Sarah, who is a Manoa Excellence Scholar in the honors program at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Sarah is majoring in marine biology (with a focus on sharks) and minoring in economics.

I live in Waco, Texas and enjoy traveling the world.

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Updated August 2022