Faculty achievement

Professor Vidart Appointed NBER Research Fellow

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professional headshotProfessor Daniela Vidart has been named a Faculty Research Fellow in the Development of the American Economy Program of the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER).

https://www.nber.org/people/daniela_vidart

The Development of the American Economy Program “explores the sources of long-run growth and fluctuations in the US economy. It considers the contributions of human and physical capital, as well as the role of public policy.”

Professor Vidart’s research bridges macroeconomics and economic history to study human capital accumulation and its impacts on labor market outcomes and economic growth.

Economics Faculty Sung Hoon Choi and Patricia Ritter Receive Promotions

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Congratulations to Economics faculty Sung Hoon Choi, who has received promotion to tenured Associate Professor, and Patricia Ritter, promoted to Associate Professor in Residence!

The UConn Board of Trustees approved the promotions, effective August 23rd, at the Board meeting on Wednesday, April 29th.

UConn Celebrates Promotion and Tenure of Faculty for 2026

Professor Smirnova Accepted to the Fulbright Specialist Program

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Professor Natalia Smirnova is accepted to the Fulbright Specialist Program, which was established in 2001 as part of the larger Fulbright Program.

A program of the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, the Fulbright Specialist Program is a unique opportunity for U.S. academics and established professionals to engage in two- to six-week collaborative projects at institutions across the globe. By participating in the program, U.S. academics and professionals share their expertise, strengthen their home institutions by partnering with overseas counterparts, hone their skills, gain international experience, and learn about other cultures while building capacity at their foreign institutions.

Dr. Smirnova plans to engage educational institutions around the world in building a more informed citizenry and a better prepared labor force. She is excited to offer a variety of training activities, such as a series of seminars, master classes, and professional development workshops focused on economic education, financial literacy, and career readiness. At this stage, she is looking for an international partner to deliver proposed projects.

Dr. Smirnova will remain on the Fulbright Specialist roster until 2029.

Professor Oskar Harmon Recognized Among Top Citation Leaders in Economics Education

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Professor Oskar Harmon has been recognized as among the top five most active and cited researchers publishing in the field of economics education. The ranking appears in the article “Identifying the Rising Stars of Economics Education,” published in The American Economist (2026) by Wayne Geerling, G. Dirk Mateer, and Jadrian Wooten.

The citation-based analysis examined papers published in academic journals endorsed by the American Economic Association’s Committee on Economic Education, with at least ten citations, focusing on topics related to teaching, pedagogy, and instructional practice. To measure recent scholarly impact, the study used citation counts from the five-year period 2020–2024.

Professor Harmon ranked 5th by total economics pedagogy citation count (724 citations) and 1st by citations per article (103).

The article may be accessed at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/399996795_Identifying_the_Rising_Stars_of_Economics_Education

Professor Delia Furtado Awarded Russell Sage Foundation Grant

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Russell Sage Foundation logoAlong with collaborators at Syracuse University, Johns Hopkins University, UC Merced, and Georgetown University, Professor Delia Furtado has been awarded a research grant from the Russell Sage Foundation.

The project, “Immigrant Labor, Staffing Shortages, and Job Quality in the Long-Term Care Sector,” examines how the availability of immigrant labor influences staffing shortages and working conditions in nursing homes—an issue of growing importance as the U.S. population ages.

Founded in 1907, the Russell Sage Foundation is a leading social science research foundation dedicated to strengthening research methods, data, and theory to better diagnose social problems and inform public policy.

Professor Langlois wins the Alfred and Fay Chandler Book Award

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The Corporation and the Twentieth Century book coverThe Harvard Business School Business History Review announces that Professor Richard Langlois has won the Alfred and Fay Chandler Book Award for his book The Corporation and the Twentieth Century: the History of American Business Enterprise (Princeton University Press, 2023).

2022-2024 Alfred and Fay Chandler Book Award

We are pleased to announce that Richard N. Langlois has won Business History Review’s 2022-2024 Alfred and Fay Chandler Book Award for his book, The Corporation and the Twentieth Century: The History of American Business Enterprise.

This award is given once every three years to the best book in the field of business history, published in the United States, as determined by a vote of the Editorial Advisory Board of Business History Review.

https://www.hbs.edu/businesshistory

The Corporation and the Twentieth Century also received the Alice Hanson Jones Prize from the Economic History Association, and was a finalist for the George R. Terry Book Award of the Academy of Management.

Professors Coşgel and Miceli Receive JEMAR Best Paper Award

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Congratulations to Professor Metin Coşgel and Professor Tom Miceli, recipients of the Journal of Economics, Management and Religion 2025 Best Paper Award for their paper:

Law and Morality: The Decisive Oath as a Means of Resolving Legal Disputes
Metin M. Coşgel and Thomas J. Miceli

Professor Kai Zhao Elected to CES Board of Directors

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professional headshotProfessor Kai Zhao has been elected to the Board of Directors of the Chinese Economists Society.

Founded in 1985, the Chinese Economists Society (CES) is a U.S.-registered non-profit academic organization. It aims to promote scholarly exchange among economists and to advance and disseminate research in economics and management sciences, with a focus on China. In his new role, Professor Zhao will contribute to CES’s mission of fostering dialogue on key economic issues and supporting the development of young scholars.

Professor Tianxu Chen Recognized as a Distinguished Career Champion

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The Department of Economics is pleased to announce that Professor Tianxu Chen was recently honored as a Distinguished Career Champion at UConn’s 2024–2025 Career Everywhere End-of-Year Recognition and Celebration. This award, presented by the Center for Career Readiness and Life Skills, recognizes faculty who demonstrate outstanding commitment to integrating career development into their teaching and student support.

As a Faculty Fellow with the Center, Professor Chen participated in the 2024 Summer Institute and implemented a series of career-focused assignments in her large-enrollment course, ECON 2441: Labor Economics, during both the Fall 2024 and Spring 2025 semesters. Her efforts included curriculum development, guest lectures, and a suite of career competency-based assessments designed to connect labor market theory with students’ professional development. Grounded in the NACE Career Competencies framework, the initiative received highly positive student feedback, with many reporting increased confidence in applying key skills in career preparation.

This recognition also highlights Professor Chen’s broader contributions through the department’s GA Training Program, where she mentors and prepares graduate assistants for effective undergraduate instruction. She is honored by this award and grateful for the opportunity to support student growth across both academic and career dimensions.