First director to lead undergraduate studies in Economics is named

Grace Tsiang, Senior Lecturer in Economics, has been named the first D. Gale Johnson Director of Undergraduate Studies in Economics.

The Johnson Directorship honors the late D. Gale Johnson’s years of service to the undergraduate program. The former Eliakim Hastings Moore Distinguished Service Professor in Economics, Johnson died in 2003. During a career at the University that spanned nearly 60 years, Johnson played an important role in building the Economics Department and served as Dean of the Social Sciences Division as well as Provost of the University.

Tsiang (A.M., ’83, Ph.D.,’91), whose research has been on human capital utilization and distribution in Malaysia and Taiwan, has worked as Director or Co-Director of the Economics Undergraduate Program for most of the past decade.

“Her leadership is, in part, responsible for the explosion in the number of Economics majors over that time,” said Derek Neal, Chairman of Economics. “Currently, about one out of every five declared concentrators has chosen Economics.

“In addition to her duties as director, Grace is known as one of the department’s best teachers,” Neal added. This year, she is teaching the Elements of Economic Analysis-1, Introduction to International Finance and the Undergraduate Honors Workshop.

The directorship will provide Tsiang with resources to further enhance the Economics Undergraduate Program, including the expansion of research opportunities for undergraduates.

In recent years, many Economics concentrators have completed impressive original research for their honors theses, and unprecedented numbers are now going on to elite Ph.D. programs for graduate study in economics, said Neal.