Directory
Economics
Dr. Chen joined the Truman faculty in 2001. Dr. Chen received her bachelor’s degree in international economics at Peking University in Beijing, P.R. China. She earned both her master's and doctorate degrees at Virginia Tech. Her teaching interests include international monetary economics, international trade, principles and intermediate macroeconomics. Her current research is in the areas of international economic integration and economies in transition. Her recent journal publication was “Financial Liberalization, Competition, and Bank Loan Quality” (March 2005, Journal of Economic Integration). She is a contributing writer for the International Encyclopedia of Public Policy: Governance in a Global Age (edited by Phillip O'Hara, Oxford and New York: Routledge, forthcoming) and Asian American History and Culture: An Encyclopedia (edited by Huping Ling and Allan Austin, ME Sharpe, forthcoming). Dr. Chen is a member of the AEA (American Economic Association) Committee on the Status of Women in the Economic Profession, the Econometric Society, and Western Economic Association International.
David Gillette has been at Truman since 1990. He holds a bachelor's degree in Business Economics from Idaho State University, and a doctorate in Economics from Washington State University. His teaching interests include macroeconomic and monetary policy issues found in such courses as: Introduction to Economics, Principles of Macroeconomics, Money and Banking, Intermediate Macroeconomic Theory, The Economic Analysis of Social and Policy Issues. His teaching of a Junior Interdisciplinary Seminar titled The Economics of Gender also reflects those interests, as does his current research in the area of economics of gender. He advises Truman's Panhellenic Council, Truman's chapter of Up 'till Dawn in association with St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, the Tau Upsilon Chapter of Alpha Kappa Psi, and the Xi Chapter of Omicron Delta Epsilon. He has organized Social Science Lectures for visiting speakers Jo Anna Gray, Carolyn Clark, Thomas Parsons, Christopher Waller, Arun Raha, John Walker, William Anderson, and Walter Block.
Dr. Mahjabeen joined the Truman faculty in 2008. Dr. Mahjabeen obtained her doctoral degree in Economics from the University of Kansas. She was awarded the Fulbright Scholarship and the World Fellowship by the Delta Kappa Gamma Society International to pursue a masters degree from the Texas A&M University. She earned her bachelor's degree from the University of Dhaka in Bangladesh. Her teaching interests include economic development and growth, international finance, principles and intermediate macroeconomics and managerial economics.
Her current research interests are related to issues in economic development and international economics, specifically, millennium development goals, microfinance and foreign aid. Her recent publication was “Microfinancing in Bangladesh: Impact on Households, Consumption and Welfare” in Journal of Policy Modeling 30, 2008. Dr. Mahjabeen is a member of the American Economic Association, Committee on the Status of Women in the Economic Profession and Bangladeshi Young Economists.
Dr. Olson is presently the chairman of the Economics Department. He has been at Truman since 1990. He holds a B.S. degree in Economics and a B.A. degree in Statistics from the University of Minnesota and an M.S. and a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His teaching interests include Principles of Microeconomics, Intermediate Microeconomics, Cost Benefit Analysis, econometrics, labor economics, economics of public expenditures, and economics of law. His current research focuses on applied cost-benefit analysis, personnel economics, differences in cooperative and altruistic behavior across groups, and game theoretic applications in the law. He is a member of the Phi Kappa Phi and Omicron Delta Epsilon honor societies, the American Economic Association and the Western Economic Association International.
Dr. Sawani has been at Truman since 1985. He holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Tripoli and master's and doctorate degrees from the University of Missouri. His teaching interests include microeconomics theory, mathematical economics, environmental and resource economics, economics of the European Union, and introductory courses in both macro and micro economics. His current research focuses on economics of education, economics of the European Union, and economics of the LDC's. He is a member of the Western Economic Association International, and The Middle East Economic Association.
Dr. Smith has been at Truman since 1986. He has a bachelor's in Economics from Eastern Illinois University, has completed the course work for a master's degree in economics at Auburn University, and holds a law degree (J.D.) from the University of Texas at Austin. He teaches History of Economic Thought and the Economic History of the United States, as well as Principles of Macroeconomics, Principles of Microeconomics, the Legal Environment of Business, and Government Regulation of Business. He is a member of the State Bars of Missouri and Texas and has presented papers at professional conferences on the work of economists Friedrich Hayek and James Buchanan, as well as on various legal topics. His special interests are economic history, the history of economics, and the Austrian school of economists.