Welcome and Boomer Sooner! I’m so excited you are checking out the website for the Economics Department here at the University of Oklahoma. Whether you are current student, prospective student, an alumni/friend of the department, or one of our fantastic faculty and staff – it’s great to have you here! Please poke around and check us out!
As our world struggles with a multitude of problems ranging from poverty/inequality, to growing energy needs, to health concerns and global pandemics, the Department of Economics is taking a leading role in the discovery and implementation of ideas that can improve the human condition. With 22 faculty representing diverse areas of expertise, our department thrives while educating and training the best and brightest future leaders of tomorrow in academics, industry, and government.
Our faculty mentor and are supported by roughly 50 graduate students and 3 full-time staff. My favorite part about our department is how we connect and support OU’s “Lead ON” plan, by positively changing lives. We strive for an inclusive and supportive, almost “family-like” environment here in our department. So, whether you are a new first year student taking Principles, or have given 50 years of service to the University of Oklahoma (shout out to our very own Lex Holmes, who is entering his 50th year of teaching at OU – the longest serving current faculty member to our knowledge), the point is that you are a critical part of what we do and YOU ARE APPRECIATED!
Our faculty are among the strongest and most impactful at OU, with numerous top publications, research grants, and awards to prove it! Several of our faculty hold distinguished or endowed professorships and countless more have received awards for excellence in teaching and/or research. Whether it’s 500 students packed into one of our “large lecture” principles classes, or 1-on-1 mentored research between a doctoral student and their dissertation advisor, we strive to offer our students the very best mentoring/training possible, including building skills in areas related to data analytics and quantitative methods.
The department encourages undergraduate students to get started in research early and graduate students to develop personalized research programs that cut across traditional barriers in the social sciences. For example, our undergraduate majors consistently take DIS hours (directed independent study) with our faculty – building their resume and research skills at the same time. Our faculty work closely with each graduate student to tailor either our doctoral or master’s programs specifically to their needs/interests. We think this is one reason our department has risen by OVER 50 SPOTS in the US News and World Report rankings over the past decade – placing us inside the top 1/3rd of all Ph.D. granting departments for the first time ever!
I encourage you to explore our department, who we are, what we do, and what you can accomplish here. If you are reading this as one of our alumni/friends/supporters – I wanted to THANK YOU for everything you have already done for OU Economics and to encourage you to stay connected and to continue supporting our initiatives! We need YOU! All of us in the Department of Economics look forward to answering any questions you may have about where we are going and how you can contribute to becoming an agent for positive change. This is an exciting time for the Department, and I am honored to serve as its chair.
Greg Burge
Professor of Economics and Department Chair
