The Department has been very busy with several new initiatives:

• We have a new scholarship for undergraduate students, the Walter P. Armstrong, Jr. Scholarship.

• We are instituting a new concentration within the major, Financial Economics.

• We are sponsoring the first undergraduate certificate program at the University, a SAS certificate.

• We have partnered with the Department of Math to offer students in both economics and math the opportunity to double major with a combined course of study.

• The Center for Economic Education is hosting a statewide competition for high school students, the Economics Challenge.

For more information on all these initiatives, see “Announcements”.

We continue to enjoy an impressive increase in the number of majors in economics, both from the College of Business and Economics and the College of Arts and Sciences. Not only are our numbers up, but the quality of our majors is outstanding.

Finally, Mr. Rick Masson, Executive Director of the Plough Foundation, joins our Advisory Board. Rick is an alum of the Department and we are very excited to welcome him back.

So, there’s a lot going on: new faculty, new courses, new opportunities. Please feel free to contact me or any other faculty member with questions, ideas, suggestions.

Wishing you a peaceful holiday season,