Ph.D. Spotlights
Trevor Collier
Ph.D. in Economics, 2006
After graduation I took a one year position as a Visiting Assistant Professor at SMU. Following that role, I took a tenure-track Assistant Professor position at the University of Dayton (Ohio) and I've been here ever since. I received tenure and promotion to Associate Professor in 2013. I served a four year term as our department chairperson and then took a sabbatical. During my sabbatical I was a Visiting Research Professor at Chapman University (California) and was able to spend some time with Vernon Smith (Nobel Prize winner in economics). I am now working towards applying for promotion to Full Professor here at UD. Obviously, none of my career would be possible without earning a Ph.D. in economics. The Graduate Assistant position SMU provided me with during my graduate studies was instrumental in allowing me to pursue this career in research and teaching.
Ruth Gilgenbach
Ph.D. in Economics, 2012
At SMU, Ruth Grune Gilgenbach was awarded the Dean’s Dissertation Fellowship, and was involved in a number of campus organizations and committees including the Center for Teaching Excellence, the Dedman College Strategic Planning Committee, and the Graduate Women’s Organization.
Upon graduation, Ruth joined the Antitrust Section of the Office of the Texas Attorney General, where she was part of a team that successfully litigated the eBooks price fixing case against Apple and five large publishers, eventually securing over $560 million in consumer relief. In 2013, she moved to Princeton, New Jersey where she is currently a partner at Ashenfelter & Ashmore, LLP, a boutique economics consulting firm. At A&A, she has worked on a wide range of projects, including: labor discrimination cases in industries ranging from mass transit workers to financial services employees; antitrust in product and labor markets in industries including animation studio workers and registered nurses; and cases in front of the US International Trade Court including the safeguard action regarding washing machine imports. Most recently, she was involved on behalf of a group of plaintiffs in the litigation surrounding the addition of the question “is this person a citizen of the United States?” to the 2020 Census. Additionally, she teaches Law & Economics at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey.
Dipanwita Sarkar
Ph.D. in Economics, 2007
Dipanwita Sakar held an Assistant professor position at the University of Louisiana Monroe, then joined Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Australia, in 2010 where she is currently a Senior Lecturer (equivalent to Associate Professor in North America).
She received the Dean’s Dissertation Fellowship at SMU, and the Vice-Chancellor’s Research Performance Award at QUT. Her primary areas of research are Applied Micro-econometrics and Behavioral Economics. She has published in journals such as Labor Economics, Health Economics, Economic Inquiry, Journal of Corporate Finance, Journal of Economic Psychology, and Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics. She is a frequent contributor to media such as The Conversation, ABC News and Australian radio. Her memorable moment at SMU was being able to hold the Nobel medal conferred to Clive Granger and Robert Engle during their felicitation.
Jingjing Ye
Ph.D. in Economics, 2013
I have been working as an assistant professor at Southwestern University of Finance and Economics (Chengdu, China) since graduated from SMU in 2013. The city of Chengdu is well known for its food, history and probably most for lovely giant pandas. It has been very rewarding to work in Chengdu, both professionally and personally. I have been able to extend my project on migration at SMU to China’s context, and keep exploring the impact of public policies using Chinese data. Two years ago, my baby girl was born. This year, I’m promoted to associate professor with tenure. In the future, I plan to keep working on projects seek to understand how people would respond to policy incentives, and how the implementation and design of those public policies can be improved.
Ph.D. in Economics, 2006
After graduation I took a one year position as a Visiting Assistant Professor at SMU. Following that role, I took a tenure-track Assistant Professor position at the University of Dayton (Ohio) and I've been here ever since. I received tenure and promotion to Associate Professor in 2013. I served a four year term as our department chairperson and then took a sabbatical. During my sabbatical I was a Visiting Research Professor at Chapman University (California) and was able to spend some time with Vernon Smith (Nobel Prize winner in economics). I am now working towards applying for promotion to Full Professor here at UD. Obviously, none of my career would be possible without earning a Ph.D. in economics. The Graduate Assistant position SMU provided me with during my graduate studies was instrumental in allowing me to pursue this career in research and teaching.Ruth Gilgenbach
Ph.D. in Economics, 2012
At SMU, Ruth Grune Gilgenbach was awarded the Dean’s Dissertation Fellowship, and was involved in a number of campus organizations and committees including the Center for Teaching Excellence, the Dedman College Strategic Planning Committee, and the Graduate Women’s Organization.Upon graduation, Ruth joined the Antitrust Section of the Office of the Texas Attorney General, where she was part of a team that successfully litigated the eBooks price fixing case against Apple and five large publishers, eventually securing over $560 million in consumer relief. In 2013, she moved to Princeton, New Jersey where she is currently a partner at Ashenfelter & Ashmore, LLP, a boutique economics consulting firm. At A&A, she has worked on a wide range of projects, including: labor discrimination cases in industries ranging from mass transit workers to financial services employees; antitrust in product and labor markets in industries including animation studio workers and registered nurses; and cases in front of the US International Trade Court including the safeguard action regarding washing machine imports. Most recently, she was involved on behalf of a group of plaintiffs in the litigation surrounding the addition of the question “is this person a citizen of the United States?” to the 2020 Census. Additionally, she teaches Law & Economics at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey.
Dipanwita Sarkar
Ph.D. in Economics, 2007
Dipanwita Sakar held an Assistant professor position at the University of Louisiana Monroe, then joined Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Australia, in 2010 where she is currently a Senior Lecturer (equivalent to Associate Professor in North America). She received the Dean’s Dissertation Fellowship at SMU, and the Vice-Chancellor’s Research Performance Award at QUT. Her primary areas of research are Applied Micro-econometrics and Behavioral Economics. She has published in journals such as Labor Economics, Health Economics, Economic Inquiry, Journal of Corporate Finance, Journal of Economic Psychology, and Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics. She is a frequent contributor to media such as The Conversation, ABC News and Australian radio. Her memorable moment at SMU was being able to hold the Nobel medal conferred to Clive Granger and Robert Engle during their felicitation.
Jingjing Ye
Ph.D. in Economics, 2013
I have been working as an assistant professor at Southwestern University of Finance and Economics (Chengdu, China) since graduated from SMU in 2013. The city of Chengdu is well known for its food, history and probably most for lovely giant pandas. It has been very rewarding to work in Chengdu, both professionally and personally. I have been able to extend my project on migration at SMU to China’s context, and keep exploring the impact of public policies using Chinese data. Two years ago, my baby girl was born. This year, I’m promoted to associate professor with tenure. In the future, I plan to keep working on projects seek to understand how people would respond to policy incentives, and how the implementation and design of those public policies can be improved.