Cougar Queries is a series profiling BYU employees by asking them a few simple questions about their work, interests and life.
Name: Eric Eide
BYU employee since: 1993
My job at BYU is… professor of economics and department chair
I’m currently researching… how decisions of where to go to college and what major to study are related to lifetime earnings and employment. Also, how sleep affects educational and labor market outcomes.
I’m currently reading… Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West, by Stephen Ambrose. Also, Hal Koerner's Field Guide to Ultrarunning: Training for an Ultramarathon, from 50K to 100 Miles and Beyond.
Students don’t think I notice… when I am talking about something that is not at all amusing, like estimating causal effects of an education policy, and they are looking at their laptop screens with big grins on their faces.
My favorite college class was… ECON 110. I found it fascinating because it captured how I intrinsically thought about the world and in particular, how people make decisions. It was the first step in an interesting and rewarding career. A close second was ECON 580, Advanced Price Theory, with Rulon Pope. It confirmed my decision to get a Ph.D.
My favorite spot on campus is… the Faculty Office Building. It is the home of the economics department. I love coming to work every day and associating with such an extraordinary group of colleagues and students.
On Saturday mornings you’ll find me… running on mountain trails with my wife Robin and our dog Gaucho.
I’m most looking forward to… serving a mission with my wife. I also look forward to anytime all three of my college age children are at home at the same time.
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Know of another Cougar we should feature? Email Emily Hellewell.
Writer: Paige Vogt
