Doctoral Candidate Andrew Perumal has accepted a position as Assistant Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Massachusetts Boston.   Perumal said he hadn’t originally considered a career in teaching, however, once he was given the chance to be a Teaching Assistant, and later to teach his own classes it changed his perspective.

“I found that I enjoyed it immensely,”  said Perumal, “The Department of Economics allowed me to develop and fine tune my teaching skills through the numerous opportunities to teach a variety of classes, which was greatly supplemented by taking Dr. William Walstad’s class on Teaching Economics.” 

Perumal feels fortunate to have worked at the Bureau of Business Research under Dr. Eric Thompson. 

“I relished the opportunity to build upon my prior experience in policy-oriented research. It was also through my interaction with Dr. Thompson that I got interested in the economics of cities and the factors affecting the decisions of households and firms to move to cities. Focusing on Urban Economics and Labor Economics as my major areas of research for my dissertation was, therefore, a natural fit for my interests."

Perumal also feels he benefited tremendously from his research collaborations with Dr. Carlos Asarta, Dr. Scott Fuess and Dr. Benjamin Kim. 

“These collaborations allowed me to build research skills and a research portfolio beyond my dissertation in the areas of Economic Education and Applied Econometrics -- interests that I will build upon throughout my career.

“I also believe that a major part of my success can be attributed to strong role models.   For my teaching, I aspire to the standards set by Dr. Carlos Asarta -- hopefully one day I will be as accomplished a teacher as he is. The other person who has shaped my success is Dr. Eric Thompson: I have learned a lot through his dedication to and success at policy and academic research, and his directorship of the BBR.  His guidance as my thesis advisor has proved to be invaluable, and his constant encouragement and support has facilitated my development as a well-rounded graduate student.

“UNL gave me an excellent opportunity to develop the necessary skills to excel in an academic position. The University’s commitment to quality teaching, combined with the numerous opportunities for policy-research and research collaborations outside of my dissertation gave me an edge in the end.  My graduate experience at UNL has been exceptionally rewarding and has fueled my enthusiasm for pursuing a career in academia; I am looking forward to every moment of it!”