Dr. Sam Allgood, professor of economics at the UNL College of Business Administration, has always had a keen interest and involvement in the field of economic education. Now he is expanding that reach for himself and the college through an appointment as chair of the American Economic Association’s (AEA) Committee on Economic Education (CEE).

The new appointment gives Allgood a strong voice among economic education practitioners, as the AEA is the largest association of economists in the world.

“One of the things this does is provide great exposure for our College of Business Administration because I’m talking with some of the top economists in the world,” Allgood explained. “I’m in touch with Nobel Prize winners as I organize our conferences and setup the plenary speakers.”

The next conference the CEE will host is the Second Annual National Conference on Teaching Economics which takes place in late May in Boston, Mass. The conference will look at both undergraduate and graduate level teaching, as well as research in all areas of economic education.

“We are now given $25,000 a year from the AEA to support this conference,” Allgood said, “so my job as chair of the committee is to pick the cities, dates and, with the help of members of the committee and the AEA, organize this conference of 200-300 people.”

Allgood is also the associate editor of the Journal of Economic Education. He is in charge of the research section of the periodical. As a result, Allgood has a broad interest in all areas of economic education.

“I read and see everything that is going around in the area of research on economic education which helps in my new role as chair of the CEE.”

Dr. Bill Walstad, John T. and Mable M. Hay Professor of Economics at UNL, is the editor of the Journal of Economic Education. He sees Allgood’s new appointment as a great connection for CBA.

“Sam is providing a major national service at the highest level in the economics profession,” Walstad said. “CEE members often come from top institutions such as Harvard, MIT, Chicago, and Stanford, so this is valuable for the economics department and the college to have one of its faculty members serving in this important national position.”

Allgood also sees a natural benefit for recruiting top prospective graduate students to Nebraska because of the unique Ph.D. offerings at CBA.

“This puts our name out there even more because Nebraska is one of the only schools that offers a Ph.D. field in economic education,” Allgood said. “Between Bill and me holding the positions that we do it provides an incredible amount of visibility when you can associate our school with some of the biggest names in economic education.”

Allgood has also produced his own distinguished research in the area of economic education. He was awarded the College of Business Administration Research Award in 2008.

His past research has looked at the long term effects of students who have studied economics regarding whether they retain what they learn over time, and whether there is a significant difference in the financial decision making by people who studied economics as opposed to those that did not.

Allgood is currently doing research with Walstad in the area of financial literacy. Published: February 28, 2012