• Ph.D., Economics, Western Michigan University - 2000
• M.A., Economics, Western Michigan University - 1994
• B.A., Economics, Addis Ababa University - 1983

• Professor, Associate Professor, Assistant Professor, Westminster University, 2003 - 2025
• Assistant Professor, Western Michigan University, 2001-2002
• Department Chair, Economics, Westminster University, 2014 – 2025
• Guest Lecturer, Donghua University, Shanghai, China, Summer 2010, 2011
• Lecturer, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia, 1984 – 1992

“Direct Versus Indirect Taxes and State Income Growth: 1991 – 2015”, Eastern Economic Journal, (2023), https://doi.org/10.1057/s41302-023-00254-1 

'Fiscal and Competitive Externalities of Charter Schools: Evidence from Utah.' Journal of Education Finance 47, no. 4 (2022): 450-475

“The source and impact of student preconceptions in economics principles classes”, with R. Parsons, International Review of Economics Education, 25, (May 2017): 15-24

“The Instability of Unskilled Earnings: Analysis of Covariance Structures from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics”, with Wei-Chiao Huang, Proceedings of the 56th Annual Meeting of Industrial Relations Research Association, (2004)

• Gore Individual Summer Grant, professional development grant, Westminster College, $4,000, April 2023, 2019, 2015
• Research Assistance Grant, Westminster College, $1,600, Spring 2012
• International Finance Faculty Fellowship, the Glorious Sun School of Business and Management, Donghua University, Shanghai, China, June 2012
• International Finance Faculty Fellowship, the Glorious Sun School of Business and Management, Donghua University, Shanghai, China, June 2010
• Research Fellowship, Economic Policy Institute, Washington, D.C., 1998

• School Community Council, Granite School District, Salt Lake City, UT. Aug. 2024 – 2025
• Vice Chair, School Community Council, Granite School District, Salt Lake City, UT Aug. 2021 – 2023
• City Commissioner, Housing Authority of Salt Lake City, Salt Lake City, UT Jan. 2011 – Sept. 2016
• Board Member and Executive, Nonprofit Refugee and Community Organizations, Salt Lake City, UT, 2008 - 2019