A message from Economics Chair Kevin Cotter: March 2025
Dear Wayne State alumni,
I hope you are doing well and that you have found success in whatever endeavors you have chosen to pursue. I am excited to reconnect you with our department by giving you some updates about what we have been doing and inviting you to participate in upcoming events.
Economics provides clarity and understanding in a complex, fast-changing world. Consequently, the department’s mission of advancing economic knowledge through research, promoting the use of economics through teaching and using economic expertise to serve the community has taken on increasing importance. In this newsletter, you will see some of the ways we have enthusiastically taken on this mission.
Upcoming events
We have two very exciting events coming up! The Samuel M. Levin Economics Lecture is our flagship event featuring a distinguished speaker. This year’s speaker is David Cutler, a renowned health economist at Harvard University. He will be speaking on "Survival of the City: Living and Thriving in an Age of Pandemic."
We are also excited to invite our alumni and friends to the Lion Undergraduate Economics Luncheon. This is an opportunity for our department community to come together and celebrate the accomplishments of our economics and mathematical economics majors.
A revitalized Economics Club
Like many campus organizations, the Economics Club went dormant during the COVID pandemic when everyone was forced off campus. Since arriving in fall 2023, mathematical economics major Alexander Gilsdorf has revitalized the club. The Economics Club now holds regular meetings and has sponsored events such as a bus tour of Detroit. The Club also maintains the department's Instagram account @WSU_Economics.
Increased emphasis on the teaching of our principles courses
We are overhauling our introductory courses, ECO 2010: Principles of Microeconomics and ECO 2020: Principles of Macroeconomics, to give students a better understanding of economic reasoning they can use in their everyday lives as well as a desire to learn more about the subject. This past year, we hired a new faculty member, Dr. Farhat Chowdhury, to take on this important task. We welcome alumni to visit our classes and tell our students about how you have used economics in your career and how they can benefit from an economics major.
Stay involved and stay in touch
I hope your background in economics has made a difference in your career and your life and that you are willing to provide that same opportunity to other students. You can do this through volunteering to share your experience with a class or an Economics Club event, by donating or staying in touch.
I would love to hear from you! Please share what you are doing, what you liked or didn’t like about your experience at Wayne State or any other thoughts or questions you may have. You can email me at kevin.cotter@wayne.edu.
All the best,
Kevin Cotter
Chair, Department of Economics