The Department of Economics is an intellectually vibrant place for its students and faculty. The faculty consists of 20 scholars at the forefront of their field and expertise. Our students benefit from the department’s internationally recognized and award-winning faculty in and out of the classroom.
The department is housed in the Walker College of Business but regularly collaborates with units across campus in multidisciplinary programs and research projects. Economics is one of the fastest growing majors on campus, and economics coursework enrolls thousands of students each year across campus through general education and multidisciplinary programs.
The department is at the center of the university's strategic initiatives in sustainability, with a group of accomplished environmental and natural resource economists that work on challenges related to renewable energy, climate change policy, fisheries, trade and development. The Department’s Center for Economic Research and Policy Analysis is a core unit of Appalachian's Research Institute for Energy, Environment, and Economics.
The faculty are committed to preparing students for a successful and impactful future. Faculty have been honored for their excellence in instruction, including a recipient of the prestigious UNC Board of Governors Teaching Award. From introductory courses to capstone research collaborations, faculty engage students with coursework and research opportunities to develop critical thinking and analytical skills that prepare students for successful futures.
The department conducts research that matters to scholarly thought and applied solutions in a variety of areas, including environmental, health, public, sports, behavioral, development, industrial organization, international, regional, and game theory. Faculty research is published in leading journals and receives funding from federal and state agencies. The department is ranked among the top 25% of economics departments worldwide for overall research output, and ranked in the top 10% in areas of environmental and experimental economics.
Our faculty share their expertise by contributing to the discipline and community. They have served on the editorial teams of respected academic journals, such as Economic Inquiry, Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Resource and Energy Economics, Public Finance Review, and Marine Resource Economics, among others. They've served on legislative commissions and scientific advisory boards, and often provide analytical assistance to businesses, non-profits, and public agencies at the local, regional and state levels.
Contact Dr. Dave McEvoy, Department Chair at mcevoydm@appstate.edu.