Management and Economics Department

The department of management and economics combines two disciplines. Economics concentrates on the principles governing the market mechanism and how it guides decision making in the production and distribution of goods and services. Management involves the planning, organizing, leading, and controlling of resources to achieve an organization’s goals in an effective and efficient manner. It is an appropriate area of study for students interested in nonprofit organizations, as well as business firms. Management emphasizes the application of economic principles, along with those from other fields, such as sociology, political science, psychology, and mathematics, to business, government, and other organizations. Although the orientation of the two disciplines differs somewhat, they share a substantial core of common subject matter and analytical methodology.

Departmental Honors

Students who have a GPA of at least 3.25 in their major courses are urged to complete a substantial research project to qualify for honors in management and economics at graduation.

Faculty

Hossein Akhavi-Pour, professor. BA 1969, Faculty of Law, Tehran University; MA 1975, PhD 1980, Kansas State University. Work experience: government, consulting, and academic. Research interests: international economics, regional economics, and the economics of developing countries.

Fahima Aziz, professor. BA 1979, Mount Holyoke College; MS 1984, University of Massachusetts, Amherst; PhD 1994, University of Minnesota. Research interests: labor economics, development economics, poverty and income inequality, and microcredit institutions.

Mary L. Bochnak, professor. BS 1972, MBA 1976, PhD 1982, University of Minnesota. Work experience: business, government and nonprofit organizations, and private consulting. Research interests: nonprofit organizations, financial and accounting models, real estate.

Elizabeth W. Gunderson, professor, chair. BAS 1976, University of Minnesota; MBA 1981, University of St. Thomas; PhD 1991, The Union Institute. Work experience: nonprofit organizations and private consulting. Research interests: forensic economics, security analysis.

Jennifer W. Keil, associate professor. BBA 1986, University of Michigan; MBA 1992, PhD 1999, University of Kansas. Work experience: securities industry. Research interests: compensation, gender pay differential, work-and-family issues.