PhD Spotlight
Distinguished Teaching Assistants
The Distinguished Teaching Assistant Awards for 2023-24 were presented at our winter reception on December 5, 2024. The winners of a certificate, a limited-edition coffee mug, and a year's membership to the Econometric Society or the American Economic Association were Aaron Amburgey, Netanel Ben-Porath, Juan Felipe Berrutti, Kwok Yan Chiu, Tom Fisher, Kenneth Fu, Jacob Gosselin, Elizabeth Jaramillo, Jose Lara, Yiqi (Edmund) Lou, Radhika Ramakrishnan, Harrison Ridland, Matteo Ruzzante, Sebastian Sardon, and Aaron Wolf.
These awards are given to the top third of our Teaching Assistants, based on student and faculty evaluations. These awards have been listed prominently on the vita of our students on the job market, and act as a strong signal to potential employers of your teaching capabilities. This is especially true for students from countries where English is not the first language.
Susan Bies Research Prizes
Also awarded were the Susan Schmidt Bies Prizes for Doctoral Student Research on Economics and Public Policy. The awards are given to the best public policy papers presented as part of the Economics 501 seminar. The winners for 2023-24 were Max Pienkny for the paper titled "From the Dial to the Aisle: The Effects of Talk Radio" and Dalton Zhang for the paper titled "Confusion, Phillips Curves and De-anchored Inflation". The prizes were generously donated by alumna Susan Schmidt Bies ’72 PhD. Her professional career included serving on the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.
eisner graduate fellowship
The final award of the evening was the Robert Eisner Graduate Fellowship, given in memory of Department of Economics Professor Robert Eisner. This fellowship is awarded to a graduate student who has distinguished him- or herself in both teaching and research. Typically, but not necessarily, the fellowship is awarded to a student who will be entering their fourth year. This is the Department’s highest honor bestowed on a graduate student at this stage of their studies. The winner of the 2023-24 Eisner Research prize was Myera Rashid.