Alumni E-Newsletter: Spring 2008

A Legacy of Dedication

In May 2007, the UCLA Department of Economics lost one of its finest faculty members when Professor Kenneth Sokoloff succumbed to complications from liver cancer. But Sokoloff's dedication to research and teaching at UCLA did not end with his death. A month later, the department received a gift of $1 million from his estate to establish the Kenneth L. Sokoloff Endowed Chair in Economic History.

To read more about Professor Sokoloff and his legacy at UCLA, visit
http://www.UCLAlumni.net/SokoloffLegacy?email=I4QN.

New Faculty Members

2007 was a great year for the UCLA Department of Economics. Over the last year, six distinguished faculty members accepted appointments to the UCLA Department of Economics. Find out who they are and about their research interests.

Simon Board
Prior to joining the UCLA Department of Economics as an assistant professor, Simon Board spent three years as an assistant professor of economics at the University of Toronto. Simon's primary research fields include industrial organization and contract theory with a particular interest in auctions. Simon completed his Ph.D. at Stanford University's Graduate School of Business in 2004. He is looking forward to teaching aspects of strategy, including personnel economics and organizational economics in the department's business economics program.

Jernej Copic
With a broad range of research interests, including mechanism design, bounded rationality, networks, political economy, game theory and finance, Jernej Copic joined the UCLA Department of Economics as an assistant professor. Jernej earned his Ph.D. from the California Institute of Technology in 2006. He is teaching an undergraduate course on the complexity of economic decisions that result in biases that have been recorded empirically and experimentally.

Dora Costa
As a distinguished faculty member who spent more than a decade at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dora Costa joined the UCLA Department of Economics as professor. Dora's research interests include economic history, aging, health and social capital. She is planning to teach an undergraduate seminar on long-term changes in the U.S. economy.

Rosa Matzkin
Prior to joining the UCLA Department of Economics as a professor, Rosa Matzkin spent more than a decade as a professor of economics at Northwestern University. In her illustrious academic career, Rosa has also spent time at Yale University and the California Institute of Technology. Rosa's major research interests include microeconometrics, nonparametric methods and microeconomic theory. She will be teaching undergraduate courses in statistics and econometrics.

Moritz Meyer-ter-Vehn
With experience in both academia and the private sector, Moritz Meyer-ter-Vehn joined the UCLA Department of Economics as an assistant professor. Moritz earned his Ph.D. in economics from the University of Bonn in October 2003. His research focuses on robust mechanism design, multi-object auctions and dynamic games. He will be teaching a course on game theory in our undergraduate program.

Jonathan Vogel
After completing his Ph.D. in economics at Princeton, Jonathan Vogel joined the UCLA Department of Economics as an assistant professor. With a background in international trade and industrial organization, Jonathan is an excellent addition to the department. He will be teaching intermediate microeconomics in our undergraduate program.

Board of Visitors

The Board of Visitors plays a key role in helping the UCLA Department of Economics retain and enhance its position as one of the premier departments and leaders in the field of economics. As a result of the board's help and support, we will build upon the department's successes over the past five years to reach the long-term goal of becoming the top economics department within a public university, and one of the top five in the United States.

To learn more about the UCLA Economics Board of Visitors, visit http://www.UCLAlumni.net/EconBoV?email=I4QN.

Chancellor's Associates Gifts to the Department of Economics

One way to participate in the financial life of the department is through the Chancellor's Associates. Last year, the chancellor announced important changes that allow Chancellor's Associates to designate their annual contributions to a specific department or program. It is our hope that Chancellor's Associates who are alumni or friends of the department will designate their future contributions to the UCLA Department of Economics.

For information, visit http://www.UCLAlumni.net/HistoryJun07_02?email=I4QN.

Also, our supporters who are not Chancellor's Associates can now donate to the UCLA Department of Economics through the UCLA Fund and their gifts will be applied towards their status as Chancellor's Associates.

For information, visit http://www.UCLAlumni.net/EconDonate?email=I4QN.

Upcoming Events

Invigorate Your Bruin Spirit at UCLA Day, May 17
http://www.UCLAlumni.net/UCLADay