Student and Alumni Profiles
Meet some of our students, past and present...
Emily Anderson has been a star both in, and outside of, the classroom. Check out the Quad Angles story about Emily. In that story Emily's political science mentor describes her as amazing, and I can assure you that Emily's
Political Science mentor was on target with his description. I have known Emily from those first days in that introductory economics class,
and been fortunate enough to see her mature through a few ECN classes and many career possibilities.
She promises that she is really on to one now. Emily wants to eventually earn a
PhD and return to the classroom, this time as the instructor. If she settles on
this, I am certain she will do it.
In recognition of her excellence in the classroom, Emily has received the Nancy McKinstry Scholarship in Economics for two years in a row, plus the Duffy Family Endowed Scholarship this year, and the Mark and Donna Ross Endowed Scholarship in the Arts and Sciences and the David Warren Scholarship last year.
Outside of the classroom, Emily has been quite successful on the track. After a successful high school career, Emily moved on to URI's Track and Field Program, and her success followed her here where she runs both track and cross-country. Emily was selected as URI’s outstanding freshman athlete in 2002-03, and at last year's Atlantic 10 Indoor Championships, she finished second in the mile and won the 1,000 meters, prompting her coach, Laurie Feit-Melnick, to write that Emily is one of the best middle distance runners in the history of the URI."
And in her "spare" time Emily has served in Professor AL Killileas's Mentor/Tutor Internship, tutoring local children who were falling behind in school, and this year she will be a leader in MTI in charge of classes where younger URI students talk about their experience as volunteers in schools. Emily has also been a driving force behind efforts to establish a van system at the University to help reduce drinking and driving problems, and is currently working in the Provost's Office as an intern.
Mark Hinchliffe is took a
somewhat unusual path through URI with his double major in Philosophy and
Economics,
and he has excelled at both. In addition to being enrolled in the University's
Honors Program, Mark is a member of Phi Betta Kappa and in 2004 he received the President's award in
Philosophy that goes to the Department's best student. Mark has also
had some experience on the other side of the desk, serving as a TA for Ric
McIntyre's ECN100 class and working in
Professor AL Killileas's Mentor/Tutor Internship program where he tutored math for
6th graders at the Curtis Corner Middle School. When not in the
classroom, Mark could be found playing volleyball for the URI team, or working
on his comics for the Cigar. Mark's artistic talents were quite evident in his
senior honors project "I am Erica: Reflections on An Amnesiac." This was a
graphic novella inspired by post 9/11America, and in November he gave a gallery
talk in Lippett Hall where his work was displayed. More recently Mark,
with the help of Michaela McCaughey, organized an extremely successful
Art auction
held at the University Club. At the Rhody Artists for Rhody
Evacuees auction, works by well-known Rhode
Island artists were auctioned off to support the University’s fund to build a
Habitat for Humanity house for victims of Hurricane Katrina, and the event
exceeded all expectation when it raised over $6,000. Maybe in the future
we'll get Mark to help with some fundraising efforts for the Department.
Or maybe we'll get Mark to do a Department video using the skills he learned
while working
as a research
assistant for a filmmaker exploring inequities of CEO compensation.
After his graduation in January, Mark will be taking a position with the
American Federation of Teachers in Washington, and we wish him the best in the
efforts to apply his considerable skills and talents to improving the education
system in the US.
Jake
Goldman never though much about
Economics at URI when he left West Hartford, CT and arrived at URI in the Fall
of 2000, but he now finds himself adding a minor in Economics to his
"other" minor in film studies and a major in Management Information
Systems (MIS). What appealed to Jake about Economics was
"its usefulness outside the 'office' and classroom. The principals and theories I have studied so
far (and I suspect they're only the top of the iceberg) have enabled me to make better personal
decisions. Some have been financial, some have as basic as "what to do tonight." I have no doubt that when I need to
handle a mortgage or loan -- or even ask for a raise -- that my economics knowledge will be invaluable.
Why do I enjoy and study in Economics? There's some statistic that says we only use some miniscule percentage of what we learn. The formulas,
precise methods, and narrow thinking often focused on in other disciplines -- while important and interesting -- are probably among the
lost knowledge. The big picture, and conceptual, practical understanding emphasized in economics has stuck with me the most thus far, and I
suspect in the long run as well."
While some may find Economics and film to be a strange combination, Jake finds it to be a natural. "As a student also minoring in film, I am attracted to the issues of social justice explored in economics. The history component of economics often allows me to better understand and critique movies from different points in modern history. For example, understanding the questions of the late 60's / early 70's is crucial to more fully "understanding" classics "The Graduate" and "Taxi Driver." Likewise, understanding financial policies of the 80's is key in analyzing "Wall Street."
We have been happy to have Jake in the Department and we have been rather nice to him in the hopes that he will not do that expose on the Department, because to date he has been quite successful with his films. In the 2001 URI Film Festival Jake earned 2nd Place in commercial / PSA division for a joint entry ("The Veridian Patch") and a 3rd Place in experimental division for joint entry ("STAB") and Honorable Mention in experimental division for personal entry ("distant") in the 2002 URI Film Festival.
When Jake is not in class or working on his films, Jake is either playing soccer or working at the Hillel Foundation where he is currently the Vice President. or running a small consulting business where he is honing those IT skills at web development that will serve him well with a degree in MIS. And along the way Jake has managed to garner a few honors - he has been inducted into the National Society of Collegiate Scholars, Phi Eta Sigma (National Freshmen Honors Society), and he received the Silverstein Award / Scholarship from URI Hillel Foundation for "leadership and commitment."
As for the future, Jake is interested in exploring several possibilities for career paths after college... mostly in what he calls the "technical arts" that would include web design, new media, film, marketing. Within those fields, Jake would like to work in "creative" positions where he would be responsible for coming up with the ideas and then making them work.
Marek Kolodziej receives the award for having traveled the furthest for study in Economics. Marek arrived at URI from Warsaw, Poland where he saw first-hand the effects of economic policy. As Marek sees it, "people like Mankiw, Sachs or Samuelson are much more than just scholars - their thought has transformed the lives of a nation of 38 million people. Jeffrey Sachs is not just another Harvard economist - he, along with Prof. Balcerowicz, former Polish finance minister, conceived a plan to transform the Polish economy from central planning to capitalism." Marek brought his passion for economics to URI where he is a fixture on the eighth floor of Chafee. On most mornings you will find him in discussions with faculty, while in the evenings you may find him working with introductory students. Marek has been a Department tutor for the past few years and he has made quite a difference based on the remarks of those who have tracked him down for help. In between you are likely to find Marek working with Jim Starkey's students since Marek was a TA for Jim's ECN202 class.
Beth Jarosz has followed the well beaten path westward since her graduation in 2000 and has landed in San Diego, and she says she thinks she is staying because its hard to give up "360 days of 70 degree weather and sunshine." It does sound good, as does her current work, but first a little on how she got there. Immediately after graduating from the Applied Economics program at URI, Beth started an internship with the RI Economic Policy Council. There she worked for several months to update and improve the publication "Charting Rhode Island's Course to the Next Economy." This job was a direct result of the work that she had done while at URI.
After her work with Policy Council Beth moved on to Phoenix where she worked for a time with the Greater Phoenix Economic Council, an Economic Development agency. While there Beth published several articles and developed a website of key regional and national economic indicators. Beth claims that it was those courses in macroeconomics that provided her with the foundation on which to build this website. But the job lacked what Beth was really interested in, research, so she gave up her view of the mountains surrounding Phoenix and headed west again, this time landing in San Diego where she began working for SANDAG. At SANDAG Beth is responsible for overseeing the current estimates program (developing subregional estimates of demographic and economic characteristics). In addition, she is heavily involved in preparing long
range regional and subregional forecasts. She also routinely publishes informational bulletins on topics involving the San Diego region, but her favorite project to date is an in-depth survey of regional economic and quality of life issues that compares several metropolitan regions around the nation. The strong applied nature of the Economics program at URI, most importantly the computer applications (e.g. Excel and EViews), has been quite an asset in her day-to-day work. And now maybe she will pass some of that along to her students. Beth is currently teaching Intro to Macroeconomics at San Diego State University where she is also working toward a Master's degree in Applied Economics.
Eric
Lind joined a number of our
graduates in the finance industry once he graduated, and by all accounts
he has been keeping busy. As he describes it, he is involved in an
array of projects at Citizens, although you will find him immersed in
products as well as for bank selection plus many of the key
market positioning metrics for the company. More recently he has
jumped on the GIS bandwagon and become involved in developing an enterprise
wide GIS application to facilitate analysis of business at a micro level
using spatial variables in addition to standard metrics.
Looking back over his years at URI, Eric feels "his time in the department helped prepare him for the rigors of corporate life ... [and] that being in financial services provides him with a great opportunity to apply many of the core principles that [he] learned in classes.
topJoe Rebello, who graduated in 2002, found it so difficult to envision leaving academia and heading out into the "real world" that he decided to stay and enrolled in the PhD program at the University of Massachusetts. For those who knew Joe, the choice of the UMass is likely to be a good match given his interests while at URI. As he works through his first-year courses, Joe is planning to focus his energies in the areas of Political Economy and Macroeconomic Theory. His first research project during this past year has been on the philosophical work of Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari and its political economic implications. The more complete plan is for Joe to take his comprehensive exams next year and then begin work on his dissertation.
Along the way Joe is getting an opportunity to see life from the other side of the desk. He is currently a TA for both introduction to microeconomics and macroeconomics courses and seems to be having a good time. As Joe notes, " I have found that undergraduate students like you much more as a "slightly hip" teaching assistant than a "barely hip" classmate." To fill out his week, Joe has also served as one of the economics department's union stewards in the UMass graduate students union and has worked on the organization of a Rethinking Marxism conference entitled "Subjects of Economy."
Bryan & Colleen Stadelmann, Colleen, class of 2002, was the deserving recipient of the Department's 2001-2002 University Excellence Award for the outstanding Economics major. In addition to the Department award, Colleen was also a member of the Golden Key Honor Society, Omicron Delta Epsilon (Economics Honor Society), Pi Delta Phi (French Honor Society), Phi Beta Kappa, and acted as the Department's representative on the College Dean's Advisory Council. While at URI Colleen was a double major in Economics and French with a minor in Philosophy. To "practice" her Economics Colleen spent the summer of 2001 in New York City where she worked as an intern for Salomon Smith Barney, while she "practiced" her French when she spent a year in France where she tells us she worked very hard. Word on the street is that Colleen was able to find some time Colleen spent the Fall semester at Universite de Grenoble in Grenoble and in the Spring semester at the Sorbonne in Paris, and I know from my travels that Grenoble is very close to the Alps where this avid skier may have been found a few times during the year. And when she is not traveling or studying, Colleen can most likely be found practicing the trumpet, or performing with the URI Jazz Band.
And all of this was just practice for the "Real World" that she entered upon graduation in 2002. Colleen was accepted into the Financial Management Program with GE, a two-year program consisting of 4 six-month rotations, each one in a different finance role. Currently she is located in Fort Wayne, IN where she is working in financial planning and analysis for Motors and Controls and recently has been assigned to head a special project. After the two years tour of duty, Colleen's plan is to go on the Corporate Audit Staff where she expects to do a good deal of international travel.
Bryan, meanwhile, working hard to keep up with his globe trotting sister, has found it hard to return from China. He is currently working in on logistics Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan and he expects to be there for another year or two. Bryan feels quite fortunate to be in China as it continues its fantastic growth, and he hopes to eventually get back into school. At this time he is thinking about an MBA program in China, possibly enrolling in CEIBS (China European International Business School). We have included a few of the pictures he has sent back.
Nick Ucci, Class of 2000, began his career at URI in the Political Science department, but he soon realized " a true understanding of that field would be incomplete without recognizing the intrinsic economic forces driving many key policy issues." As a result, Nick joined the Economics program and embarked on a double-major in Economics and Political Science. Along the way Nick helped many students learn some of the finer points of these disciplines while working as an undergraduate teaching assistant in Economics as well as serving as a research and writing assistant within both major fields. In recognition of his excellence, Nick was awarded numerous honors and scholarships including the David Warren Scholar Award in Political Science, the Sherrer Awards for Academic Achievement in the Honors Program, and the President's Award for Student Excellence in Economics, an award given to the top Economics graduate as elected by the Department faculty. In addition to his work at URI, Nick also spent a good amount of time in internships. His internships with US Senator Jack Reed represented a perfect opportunity for Nick to combine his interests in economics and political science, while his summer internship with UBS Warburg in Stamford, CT gave him an opportunity to learn more about the world of finance.
Once it was time to leave,
Nick decided to take a job in a Boston financial firm where a "
middle-class guy from Rhode Island found himself making a very good
salary." But this wasn't
Nick who believes his "true calling is that of a public servant."
And when the opportunity arose to follow this calling, Nick accepted a job
with the State of Rhode Island's Department
of Labor and Training where he is in the Labor Market Information unit. Nick
has just gotten a promotion to Principal Research Technician at Rhode Island's Department
of Labor and Training where the publication
he produced, State of the State - Statistical Profiles of Rhode
Island's Cities and Towns
was the proud runner-up of the 2003 NASWA Labor Market Information
Communication/Publication Awards: Localized Information for Workforce
Development Award. Nick's work in economics upstate has brought him back to his political science roots. Recently Nick
was accepted into URI's Master's degree in Political Science
where he will be concentrating on
public policy and labor relations.
top
Frank
Roche is another of our graduates
who was attracted by the bright lights of New York City and who has
managed to turn those years of manipulating supply and demand curves into
a rewarding career. As Frank sees it, his " degree has been invaluable in helping
me
build a successful career. I use my economics knowledge every single
day of the week. I am the go to guy for anything economic, be it
monetary, fiscal, domestic, or international. Most people in the
market know the headlines, and can talk the talk in bars and restaurants,
but scratch the surface and there is nothing more there." When
you scratch Frank's surface, however, you do find something - a true
conservative who has thrived in a rather liberal university setting and
liberal town. Frank will long be remembered for the heated
discussions on the 8th floor of Chafee, and he appears ready to take his
message to a wider audience. He
currently has a web page where he intends to present position papers
expressing the conservative perspective on important public policy
issues. At the present time his focus is on immigration policy, but
he assures us he is ready to take on university education - payback for
all those good years in Kingston. As Frank sees it, the time is here
to examine closely what he sees as the dramatically left leaning college and university system in America.
Frank sees
himself slowly but surely getting
involved in other public policy areas and dipping his toe in the political
arena as a fund raiser and contributor. In the future he may even
think about public office, but that is a few years in the
future.
If you are looking for Frank now, however, he can be found in midtown Manhattan, where he is Vice President of Foreign Exchange Trading with SG Bank (Societe Generale outside America). For those who remember those supply and demand graphs of the foreign exchange markets with the fondest of memories, you will be happy to know that this is Frank's life. Frank is currently in his 10th year working in the financial markets, and 7th working as a Foreign Currency Trader. He trades currencies, and currently he is trading the euro, dollar, and yen, so we'll think of Frank when we see the latest moves in the US $? In addition to trading Frank has also evolved into the on desk economics commentator when economic data is released. Frank is a natural for this job since he is remembered by many for his real love of current events and policy decisions. While at URI Frank always enjoyed educating the faculty, and now he is educating his fellow traders on the implications of the economic news.
Nancy McKinstry may have graduated from URI back in 1980, but she continues to leave her mark on the University. Nancy, like Nick Ucci a few decades later, came to URI to pursue a degree in Political Science, in this case a degree that would lead her into a career in the foreign service. But Nancy "got hooked on Economics immediately" and eventually ended up with two majors. Her love for economics was evident to all who saw her in the halls of Chafee - and she was always there. Most of the time it seemed she was helping keep order in Professor Joel Dirlam's work, which undoubtedly contributed to his productivity during these years. Nancy's successes after leaving URI have been well documented in a profile that appeared in Quad Angles and a press release upon her being named to the Executive Board of Wolters Kluwer. After leaving URI Nancy went to Columbia University where she earned an M.B.A. in marketing and finance, and from there went to the management and technology consulting firm Booz Allen & Hamilton. Nancy eventually found her way to CCH LIS, a leading provider of agent representation and filing services to the legal and corporate markets, where she was executive vice president of marketing and product management and then president and CEO. She then took a break and moved to SCP, New York City, a medical publishing and services company specializing in clinical research, journals, medical education and communications where she was CEO and a director, before assuming the title of CEO of Wolters Kluwer North America in October of 2002. In 2004 and 2005 Nancy appeared in Fortune magazine's list of 50 most powerful women in international business, and in 2005 the University awarded Nancy an Honorary Degree.
As Nancy continued her climb up the corporate ladder, she never forgot her roots at URI. Nancy has been an active member of the College of Arts and Sciences Advisory Council and in 2002-2003, thanks to Nancy's gift to the Department, we were able to award the first Nancy McKinstry scholarship to Christina DeCiutiis. In recognition of her business success and contributions to the University, Nancy was recently awarded the Alumni Association Award for Achievement in Business.Joseph Diamond received an M.A. in economics from URI in 1970 after completing his course work from 1965 - 1967 and spending several years in the U.S. Peace Corps. During his time at URI, Joseph was a teaching assistant and completed his Masters' Thesis under Joel Dirlam. In 1977 he received a Ph.D. in Resource Development from Michigan State University.
Joseph has 30 years of work experience and over 60 publications in economic policy. During his career he has held numerous positions such as Assistant Professor of Community Development and Extension Community Development Specialist. He is currently a Planner with the California Energy Commission where his assignments have included assessing the socioeconomic impacts of power plants as part of California's licensing process, and analyzing the economic impacts of electric power mergers and acquisitions.
Lacey Gardiner graduated from URI in 2001 with a major in Economics and a minor in Accounting. After graduation, Lacey won a State Department internship at the American Embassy in London. She describes the internship as a "fantastic experience." Following the internship, Lacey undertook graduate studies in URI's Department of Environmental and Natural Resource Economics. There she has coauthored an article that has been submitted to a scholarly journal.
Now, in June 2006, she is finishing the requirements for a Masters degree and preparing to attend a professional conference where her research findings are to be presented.
