Letter from the Chair
I am excited to speak to you, our alumni, as the new department chair. It is a great privilege to run this department, and I am excited about all we have accomplished this year and what we will do going forward.
Below we share some of the biggest stories of what has happened here over the past year like our first annual Young Alumni Networking Event and the success of our top-notch Fed Challenge team. We welcomed threenewfaculty members doing exciting work in health economics, environmental economics, and international trade. They join our existing set of faculty working on fascinating and impactful topics like how we can incentivize people to consume energy more efficiently and from cleaner sources.
MSU Economics Alumni Return to Campus for Undergraduate Networking Event
On Thursday, January 30, the MSU Department of Economics hosted their first Young Alumni Networking Event, welcoming sixteen alumni to campus to connect with over 70 current undergraduate students.
New Economics Faculty
Professor Hannah Bae
“As a member of the Economics faculty, I look forward to contributing to the department’s research community and engaging more with students through teaching and mentoring opportunities.”
Professor Konan Hara
“I chose MSU because the department has a strong group of researchers in energy and environmental economics, health economics, industrial organization, and econometrics, which aligns with all of my research interests. And I also love the nature here!”
Professor Guangbin Hong
“I look forward to interacting with the outstanding and diverse faculty group in the department,” Professor Hong said. “I also look forward to teaching the graduate students about the cutting-edge methods in my research fields.”
MSU Professor Bringing the National Electrical Grid to Light
"I study how and why households make decisions about their energy consumption — how much to heat, when to invest in energy efficiency or renewables like solar -- and how large numbers of households making these decisions can affect the wholesale electricity markets that our utilities use to purchase the electricity they deliver to us." - Justin Kirkpatrick, Ph.D.
Professors Awarded Chair Positions
Professor Stacy Dickert-Conlin
Professor Stacy Dickert-Conlin announced as Interim Frederick S. Addy Chair.
Professor Hanzhe Zhang
Professor Hanzhe Zhang announced as Interim Mark A. Simon Distinguished Associate Professor.
Professor Jeffrey Wooldridge recognized as top global researcher
The MSU Department of Economics is thrilled to announce that Professor Jeffrey Wooldridge has been recognized as top global researcher in the “2025 Highly Cited Researchers” list, a ranking organized annually by Clarivate Analytics.
MSU Fed Challenge Team Visits Federal Reserve for National Open House
On February 7, 2025, four Michigan State University students traveled to Washington, D.C. to take part in the second annual Fed Challenge Open House at the Federal Reserve Board of Governors.“Participating in the Fed Challenge was the most rewarding and enriching experience I’ve had so far at MSU,” said Tomas Feldmann Tonelli.
Graduate Student Spotlight: Wenjia Cao
"I chose MSU for my PhD because of its strong reputation in labor economics, which aligns with my primary research interests. My current research focuses on how technological changes, especially artificial intelligence, and public policies affect skill demands, labor market outcomes, educational choices, and inequality," Wenjia Cao said.
MSU Economics announces 2025 senior award winners
Congratulations to our 2025 Economics senior award winners Harrison Kubicki, Knickolas Laux, Isabella Webber, Alayna Tisch, Emma Nicolaysen, Clio Selyuzhitsky, Jack Starling and Lauren Smith!
MSU Economics selects Clio Selyuzhitsky as Outstanding Senior
When looking back on their most significant memories, Clio enjoyed traveling to Chicago and Detroit with the Econ Scholars and attending the Econometrics seminars.“Seeing how I slowly understood more and more from repeatedly attending and learning about econometrics has made me feel more confident about my econometrics knowledge,” Clio said.
Support the Department of Economics
Are you passionate about the field of economics or your experiences at MSU and considering ways to give back? A gift to our department could be used to help undergraduate and graduate students, research, or other scholarly activities.
