Student to Share Study with Nobel Economists

A UT Dallas graduate student is taking her South Dallas research to an international audience.

Tammy Leonard, a Ph.D. student in the School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences, will attend the 2008 Lindau Meeting of Nobel Laureates in Economic Sciences Aug. 20-23.

At the conference, past Nobel laureates in economics will convene in Germany to meet with young economic researchers from around the world.  Together they will reflect on current topics and trends and discuss the new frontiers of economic research.

“It will be a great opportunity to meet with the people who have shaped the discipline, as well as peers from the greatest universities from around the world,” said Leonard.

Leonard will share her research on urban economics at the Lindau meeting.  She has been working with UT Dallas economics professors Jim Murdoch, Rachel Croson and Catherine Eckel to study the local impacts of foreclosures and how people decide to make contributions to their local environments.

“I like the social justice implications of our research.  It can have a positive impact by finding ways to remove barriers to advancement of individuals in poor neighborhoods,” Leonard said.

Leonard’s adviser, Economics Program Head Jim Murdoch, nominated her to attend. “Tammy is a good representative because she is interested in applying economic theory and models to important social problems like the foreclosure crisis.  She has the passion, skills and attitude for research that we strive to instill in all of our graduate students,” Murdoch said.

Leonard is not only looking forward to building a worldwide network of colleagues in Lindau, she is also excited about learning from their research.  “Economic development is very contextually driven.  It will be interesting to compare our work with others,” she said.

Leonard began the economics Ph.D. program in 2005.  Upon completing her Ph.D. in May, she would like to pursue an academic career and continue with the neighborhood research she began at UT Dallas.

Leonard says she’s appreciative of the support she’s received in the School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences.  “It’s been very easy to work with the faculty here, particularly Drs. Murdoch, Arce, Berg, Croson and Eckel.  The opportunities at UT Dallas have been plentiful,” she said.

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