CHAIR'S WELCOME

Dr. Rodney Green Chair The Howard University Department of Economics trains leaders for America and the Global Community. Graduates of the Department include Dr. Samuel Z. Westerfield, Jr. for whom the National Economics Association named its most prestigious award for economists who make outstanding contributions to economics and as teachers, researchers and public servants. Westerfield held many posts in academia, including a visiting position at the Harvard Business School and as Dean of the School of Business at Atlanta University (with his noted colleague Whitney M. Young, the Dean of the School of Social Work), and as U.S. Ambassador to Liberia (1969-1972), and as Deputy Assistant U.S. Secretary of State for African Affairs. Alums also include Dr. Sadie Gregory, Acting President, Coppin State University; Dr. Akpan Ekpo, Vice Chancellor of Akwa Ibom State University of Technology in Nigeria, Chair of the Akwa Ibom Investment and Industrial Promotion Council and Member of the Board of the Central Bank of Nigeria; and, Dr. Gwendolyn Flowers, who served as Chief Economist for the U.S. Department of Commerce and as the chief economist for the D.C. Financial Control Board; Dr. Marva Corley is an Economics Affairs Officer with the United Nations Department of Economics and Social Affairs; Cheryl Hill Lee is a Statistician Economist at the U.S. Census Bureau where she coordinates the report on income, poverty and health insurance coverage. Last year’s undergraduate majors went on to pursue doctorates in economics, work for investment banking firms, work for big six accounting firms, work for the Peace Corps, work for major retailers and manufacturing firms and take government positions; reflecting the range of careers that economists pursue. The Department achieves its goal by being a dynamic and vibrant place where students are exposed to a wide variety of experiences. The Department’s Howard Economic Policy Forum which has aired nationally on C-SPAN has played host to NAACP President Bruce Gordon, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, AARP President Marie Smith, former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Tom Dashcle, U.S. House Ways and Means Committee Member Stephanie Tubbs-Jones, and Federal Reserve Board of Governors Vice-Chair Ronald Ferguson. Last year’s inductees into Omicron Delta Epsilon, the economics honor society, heard from economics Nobel Laureate Dr. Joseph Stiglitz, and the year before they heard from Dr. Andrew Brimmer, the first African American to serve on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. This past summer, a set of undergraduate majors served internships across the U.S. with state-based economic policy think-tanks. There, they assisted in research on state budgets and policy priorities. Other undergraduates spent he summer with the U.S. Energy Information Agency, where tracking the big fluctuations in gasoline prices kept them busy. Students are taught by a dedicated group of professors who are actively engaged in research and policy work. There are 15 PhD economists who make up the faculty, who teach the core set of courses in the department. The department plays its role to make Howard University the Capstone.

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OBJECTIVES

The Department of Economics at Howard University provides students with a sound foundation in economic theory and its applications. Coupled with this is a concerted effort to produce students who are competent in the use of the quantitative tools in analysis. This is supplemented by a state of the art computer laboratory. The economics program provides a unique opportunity to gain experience and employment in research and policy making institutions in Washington.

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CAREER OPTIONS IN ECONOMICS

We prepare undergraduate students in economics for a number of different career options. This includes institutions in the federal and state governments, private corporations and a variety of public interest organizations.

An undergraduate degree in Economics is also an excellent preparation for a career in Law, as it provides a solid training in objective reasoning. Particularly relevant to economics are issues of regulation in the areas of communication, public utilities,securities trading, transportation and trade. The undergraduate program also prepares students for graduate degrees in economics, law and business.

Students may contact the department for internship opportunities in the Washington area.

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WASHINGTON D.C. OPPORTUNITIES

Howard's location in Washington, D.C. offers prospective economics students and graduates easy access to a large number of internships and job openings, in institutions such as the Brookings Institute, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the Urban Institute, the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, and a number of public interest groups, the Economic Policy Institute, the Economic Development Institute, the Environmental Development Fund, and numerous trade associations.

Howard also belongs to the Consortium of Universities of the Washington Metropolitan area. The members of the consortium share facilities and give students enrolled at any of the participating schools the opportunity to take courses not offered at their own institution. The members of the Consortium are Georgetown University, George Washington University,Catholic University, American University, Gallaudet University and the University of the District of Columbia.

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