Faculty/Staff

Chair and Professor of Economics
CA 209 / ext. 3156
aaelrod@sewanee.edu

I am an environmental economist broadly interested in environmental regulation. My recent research examines the factors that affect the frequency and stringency that state and local governments enforce U.S. federal environmental policy. I focus primarily on the Clean Water Act (CWA) and examine how factors such as political party affiliation of elected officials, state-level enforcement of other U.S. federal environmental policies (e.g., Clean Air Act), and firm-level political connections impact state-level monitoring and enforcement of the CWA.

Teaching Professor of Economics
CA 211 / 1000
bford@sewanee.edu

As an applied agricultural economist and teaching professor, my primary interests include managerial economics, environmental economics, and finance. I am also interested in creating more engaging and supportive learning environments for students. In addition to my teaching responsibilities I offer life coach training sessions to provide opportunities for students to thrive as extraordinary human beings throughout their college experience.

Visiting Assistant Professor of Economics and Finance
CA 216 / 1707
lihuang@sewanee.edu

Assistant Professor of Finance
CA 205 / ext. 1211 
hujing@sewanee.edu

I am a Financial Economist with research interest in Asset Pricing, Financial Econometrics, and Machine Learning. My work focuses on recovering information from financial markets to understand investor preferences and to predict and price assets. Currently, I am working on several machine-learning-based asset pricing projects, including distributionally robust optimization (DRO) in asset pricing models, robustness studies of nonparametric recursive utility models, and high-dimensional asset pricing problems.

Visiting Associate Professor of Economics
CA 205 / ext. 1046
I study education from two viewpoints. First, I use economics to analyze policies to improve educational outcomes for students. For example, I study how to keep good teachers in schools that need good teachers, or why the market for early childhood education falls short in meeting society’s needs. Second, I consider ways to improve students’ experiences learning economics by engaging in pedagogical research. For example, I explore how a student’s background and personal characteristics influence whether they study economics and how we can change instruction to make the field more inclusive.

Associate Professor of Economics
CA 225 / ext. 1667
kamisra@sewanee.edu

I am a development economist focusing on the role of historical circumstances, social norms, and customs in determining the choices and outcomes of public policy in developing countries. I study the linkages between present day land and labor markets and colonial laws and regulations which continue to impede the smooth functioning of these markets. Using a political economy lens, my research employs empirical research methods on archival and historical data to establish causal pathways between historically determined institutions and contemporary economic underdevelopment and exclusion in South Asia.

Assistant Professor of Economics
CA 226 / ext. 1665
lhsherpa@sewanee.edu

I am a macroeconomist with a particular focus on entrepreneurship, and my research aims to understand the underlying causes of declining business dynamism in the U.S. Specifically, I am investigating the preconditions necessary for entrepreneurship to thrive and how shifts in the economic, regulatory, and social landscape have impacted the formation of new businesses.

Associate Professor of Economics
CA 204 / ext. 1235
tasong@sewanee.edu

I am a labor economist specializing in demographic economics, immigration, and labor market dynamics. My recent research examines the educational attainment of young immigrants living in ethnic enclaves and how varying degrees of attachment to co-ethnic peers influence immigrants' wages and employment outcomes. Moving forward, I aim to expand my research to explore the labor market decisions of LGBTQ immigrants and assess the impact of emerging AI technologies on overall labor market demand and supply.

Professor of Economics
CA 219 / ext. 3323
mastpier@sewanee.edu

Associate Professor of Economics
CA 224 / ext. 1146
bssturgi@sewanee.edu

I am a macroeconomist with a primary interest in economic growth, so I care mostly about the behavior of aggregate economies over extended periods of time. Much of my research considers the impacts of technological progress on the intensity with which the economy utilizes various factors of production including raw labor, human capital, physical capital and natural resources. I also study the impacts of regulation and institutional quality on economic growth.

Professor of Economics
CA 210 / ext. 1146
kctheyso@sewanee.edu

My early work in economics focused on international trade and development. But more recently I have developed interest in environmental regulation, which allows me to also incorporate my undergraduate training in Chemistry. My recent research examines the factors that affect the frequency and stringency of state and local governments enforcement of U.S. federal environmental policy, principally the Clean Water Act (CWA). My work examines how factors such as political party affiliation of elected officials, state-level enforcement of other U.S. federal environmental policies (e.g., Clean Air Act), and firm-level political connections impact monitoring and enforcement of the CWA.

Frank W. Wilson Professor of Economics
Business Services building / ext. 1349
dwilliam@sewanee.edu