Nicholas (Nick) Jolly, PhD ’08, was recently promoted to full professor of economics at Marquette University, effective beginning in the 2026–27 academic year. A labor economist, his research focuses on the labor market outcomes and adjustment processes of workers who experience involuntary job separations and work-limiting disabilities. He has also published research on collective bargaining agreements in professional sports.
Although nearly two decades have passed since Nick defended his dissertation, he remains closely connected to the department. Most recently, he coauthored a paper with Professor Delia Furtado in the Oxford Review of Economic Policy examining how immigrant labor may help address eldercare worker shortages in the United States. He also contributed, with several coauthors, a chapter on regional variation in COVID-19 vaccination rates to the Handbook on Inequality and COVID-19, edited by Professor Ken Couch.
Nick remains a devoted Huskies fan. He regularly returns to Connecticut during the summer to visit family and can often be spotted in the UConn Bookstore restocking his Husky gear. During his visits, he typically stops by the department and is always generous with his time meeting current PhD students and faculty. If you would like to connect with Nick — or simply congratulate him on his promotion — feel free to reach out to him.
To our other UConn economics alumni: if you have exciting career news to share, please contact economics@uconn.edu. We would love to hear from you.
The presentation examined the integration of Tableau-based data visualization into a required undergraduate economics writing course. Using pre- and post-course survey data, the study finds improvements in student course satisfaction and writing confidence after students learned to produce their own data visualizations. The results highlight the potential for combining data literacy and writing instruction to enhance student engagement and communication skills in economics coursework.
Anastassiya Karaban presented her paper, “The role of gender comparisons in determining reference wage and labor supply.” She finds that when people make different wages, we choose to compare our wage to others of the same gender. Women work harder when making more than other women (but not when making more than other men). Men work less hard if they are making less than another man (but not if they are making less than a woman).
Victor Volkman presented his paper, “Race and experimental design: How respondents may read context into a neutrally framed scenario.” Traditionally, economics experiments have participants engage in “context free” simulated economic transactions. Victor examines whether such absence of context can affect individuals differently based on their racial backgrounds. He finds evidence that different racial groups interpret context-free scenarios differently, and thus their actions are not directly comparable.
On a picture perfect Spring evening, several doctoral students participated in the 
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