Haag Hall, Room 211
5120 Rockhill Road
(816) 235-1314
economics@umkc.edu
https://cas.umkc.edu/economics/

Mailing Address
University of Missouri-Kansas City
Department of Economics
Haag Hall 211
5100 Rockhill Road
Kansas City, MO 64110-2499

Department Chair:
Erik K. Olsen, olsenek@umkc.edu
(816) 235-2837

Undergraduate Advisor:
Mathew Forstater, forstater@umkc.edu

IPhD Coordinator:
Scott Fullwiler, scottf@umkc.edu
(816)-235-5701

M.A. Advisor:
Sirisha Naidu, snaidu@umkc.edu
(816)-235-5715

Office Support Assistant III:
Jill Folsom, (816) 235-1314

Professors Emeriti:
W. Robert Brazelton, Peter J. Eaton, L. Kenneth Hubbell, A. Ross Shepherd, James I. Sturgeon, Karen S. Vorst, F. Eugene Wagner, John O. Ward, L. Randall Wray

Professors:
Mathew Forstater

Associate Professors:
William Black, Scott Fullwiler, Sirisha Naidu, Erik K. Olsen (chair), Linwood Tauheed

Assistant Professors:
Zhongjin Li

Lecturers:
Michael Kelsay, Panayiotis Manolakos

The Department of Economics is committed to promoting excellence in broad-based undergraduate programs; graduate and interdisciplinary doctoral education; research; and community, university and professional service. The department focuses its research, teaching and service efforts on the urban mission of the University by fostering a diversity of research and teaching perspectives for faculty and students.

Our Students

The department offers programs leading to a Bachelor of Arts, Master's of Arts and Interdisciplinary Ph.D., in Economics. It also provides undergraduate service courses to the School of Humanities and Social Sciences (SHSS), the Bloch School, and the School of Science and Engineering. Undergraduate majors participate in a variety of visiting lecture programs and faculty colloquialism through the Economics Club and the Omicron Delta Epsilon (the economics honorary society).

Faculty and Facilities

Faculty members of the department maintain active, extensive research programs and a strong commitment to teaching -- holding four outstanding teaching awards. Faculty members have served as presidents for national and regional economic associations and lectured and conducted research in the Fulbright Program, the Ford Foundation, the U.S. Department of Commerce, and the U.S. Department of Labor. Faculty members have established national and international  reputations in a number of research fields. For a small faculty, the department has ranked high among other economics departments at comparable institutions nationally.

The Department of Economics and the Center for Economic Information are housed in Haag Hall. Faculty and other department programs are housed in Manheim Hall. Students have access to state-of-the-art computer labs and classrooms.

Center for Economic Information

Haag Hall, Room 210
5120 Rockhill Road
(816) 235-1394

Taki Manolakos, Director

The Center for Economic Information (CEI) was established in November 1994 with the goal of making local, regional and national information accessible to economic decision-makers in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The CEI is affiliated with the Department of Economics and the School of Humanities and Social Sciences (SHSS).

The center is involved in research, teaching and outreach activities. The primary expertise of the center is in application of information technology for economic analysis.

You may request information about economics programs by calling the department's main number, (816) 235-1314; visiting the website at https://cas.umkc.edu/economics/; or sending an information request via email to economics@umkc.edu.

W. Robert Brazelton; professor emeritus of economics; B.A. (Dartmouth College); M.A., Ph.D. (University of Oklahoma).

William Black; associate professor of economics and law; Ph.D. (University of California at Irvine).

Doug Bowles¹; assistant teaching professor, director, CEI, director, SSC, Ph.D., (University of Missouri-Kansas City)

Peter J. Eaton; associate professor emeritus of economics; B.A. (University of Santa Clara); Ph.D. (University of Florida).

Mathew Forstater^2,3; professor of economics; B.A. (Temple University); M.A. (New School for Social Research); Ph.D. (New School for Social Research).

Scott Fullwiler^2,3; associate professor of economics; B.A., Ph.D. (University of Nebraska-Lincoln)

L. Kenneth Hubbell; professor emeritus of economics; B.A., M.A. (Texas Christian University); Ph.D. (University of Nebraska).

Michael Kelsay¹; Adjunct professor of economics; Ph.D. (University of Tennessee).

Zhongjin Li^2,3; assistant professor of economics; B.A. Renmin University of China, M.A. and Ph.D. University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Sirisha Naidu^2,3; associate professor of economics; B.A. Stella Maris College, M.SC. Madras School of Economics, M.A. and Ph.D. University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Erik K. Olsen^2,3; associate professor of economics; B.S. (Northeastern University); Ph.D. (University of Massachusetts at Amherst).

Ross Shepherd; professor emeritus of economics; A.B. (Harvard University); M.A., Ph.D. (Syracuse University).

James Sturgeon; professor emeritus of economics, Ph.D. University of Oklahoma.

Linwood Tauheed^2,3; associate professor of economics; Ph.D. (University of Missouri at Kansas City).

Karen S. Vorst²; professor emeritus of economics; B.S. (Bowling Green State University); Ph.D. (Indiana University).

F. Eugene Wagner; professor emeritus of economics; B.A., M.S. (University of Missouri-Kansas City); Ph.D. (Syracuse University).

John O. Ward; professor emeritus of economics; B.A., M.A. (University of Toledo); Ph.D. (University of Oklahoma).

L. Randall Wray, professor emeritus of economics, B.A. (University of the Pacific); M.A. and Ph.D. (Washington University in St. Louis).

Undergraduate Programs:

Bachelor of Arts: Economics

Minor:

Minor in Economics

Graduate Programs:

• Master of Arts: Economics
• Interdisciplinary Ph.D.