I spent the first ten years of my career as a regular faculty member in an economics department (University of Delaware). I spent most of the next 20 years as director of academic research centers (at Purdue University, Georgetown University, and George Washington University) focused on public policy affecting retail financial services, especially markets that provide consumers with credit cards, auto loans, mortgages and a host of other credit products. Research is always interesting, but doing research on issues that directly impact people’s lives, and under the hot lens of public policy scrutiny in Washington D.C., has been exciting.
Upon arriving at the University of Arizona in 2007, I directed the Take Charge America Institute (TCAI) for Consumer Financial Education and Research helping to build financial literacy and capability in America’s youth. Consumers today face a tremendous array of financial products and choices. Perils await those who make uninformed choices when it comes to borrowing, spending, saving and investing. I’m delighted to be a part of the University’s effort to build financial education programs that are now being used by tens of thousands of teachers across the country.
Since 2015, I've also served as the Bart Cardon Associate Dean for Career and Academic Services in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS). In that position I lead a staff of 24 employees and am responsible for oversight of all academic programs for 3,600 students in the college, across 17 undergraduate majors in 10 academic departments and more than 50 graduate degree and certificate programs.
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When I’m not having fun in the classroom or in the dean's office, I hike, golf, swim (I was a competitive swimmer and a scholarship student-athlete through college) and do all the other outdoor activities you can do year-round in Southern Arizona. My wife and I live in Oro Valley, where we also enjoy spectacular sunsets and the moon rising over the Catalinas.
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