Academics
Faculty
Reza Ramazani
Department Chair
Professor of Economics
B.A. Ghazvin College of Economics; Iran; M.A., Ph.D. University of Colorado, 
Boulder
Dr. Ramazani has received a Teaching Excellence Award from the University of Colorado and a Faculty Appreciation Award, Rev. Gerald DuPont Award and the Joanne Rathgeb Teaching Award from Saint Michael’s College. Dr. Ramazani’s research has been in the areas of international trade, international finance and economic development. His articles have been published in various books and journals, including the Review of Economics and Statistics.
Campus Office
Saint Edmund's Hall 357
Phone: 802.654.2360
Box 133
E-mail: rramazani@smcvt.edu
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
John Carvellas
Professor of Economics
B.S. Colby College; Ph.D. Syracuse University
Dr. Carvellas has a special interest in chaos theory and is working on a Mathematics for Economists textbook. His interest in economics developed he graduated from college, while he was teaching high school and coaching football in Boston. He enjoys that economics is a constantly evolving subject relevant to all of our lives, and considers himself lucky to be teaching at a small college. "I feel as though I am being paid for my hobby."
Campus Office
Library 330
Phone: 802.654.2365
Box 156
E-mail: jcarvellas@smcvt.edu
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Herb Kessel
Professor of Economics
Director of the Center for Social Science Research
B.S. University of Rhode Island; M.A., Ph.D. Boston University 
What attracted Dr. Kessel to economics was a desire to learn more about problems of poverty and income inequality. He tries to share with students his enthusiasm for learning and a conviction that economic ideas are stimulating, relevant and challenging. He likes to involve students in research activities whenever possible.
Campus Office
Saint Edmund's Hall 353
Phone: 802.654.2460
Box 166
E-mail: hkessel@smcvt.edu
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tara Natarajan
Associate Professor of Economics
-- On sabbatical for the Spring and Fall 2009 semesters --
B.A. Sophia College, India; M.A. University of Bombay, India; Ph.D. University of Nebraska at Lincoln
Dr. Natarajan's research is in the area of poverty and development studies primarily in relation to the Indian subcontinent. She is an institutional economist by training and primarily relies on field studies to conduct research. Her research is on the capitalist transformation of agrarian India and its impact on the rural poor. This has lead her towards studying responses of the rural poor particulalry that of development activism and action engaged in creating autonomous, food secure, self sufficient village communities in southern India. Research allows her the freedom to further the continuum of teaching and learning.
In recent years she has expanded her application of heterodox approaches to poverty analysis by investigating rural areas outside of India, which are impacted by severe rigidities. This has resulted in her collaborative research on rural poverty among Native Alaskans with Dr. Wayne Edwards who is an associate professor of economics at the University of Alaska Anchorage. She is expanding her application of heterodox approaches to poverty analysis by investigating rural areas outside of India, which are impacted by severe rigidities. In addition to several national and international conference papers, international development workshops, field work, and book review she has published articles in the Journal of Economic Issues, The Forum for Social Economics, Native Studies Review. Her most recent work is a book entitled Institutional Analysis and Praxis: The Social Fabric Matrix edited by Tara Natarajan, Scott Fullwiler and Wolfram Elsner (Springer, Summer 2009).
In addition to the introductory courses in economics she teaches upper level Microeconomic theory and several electives such as Development economics, Special topics course on latin america and south Asia (team taught with Professor Pineda from History), World economies, History of economic thought and policy and Senior seminar.
Campus Office
Saint Edmund's Hall 355
Phone: 802.654.2298
Box 234
E-mail: tnatarajan@smcvt.edu
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Patrick Walsh
Assistant Professor of Economics
B.A. Washington University in St. Louis; Ph.D. University of Michigan
Courses Taught: Principles of Microeconomics; Principles of Macroeconomics; Public Finance; Economics of Health Care
Areas of Expertise: Economics of education; focusing on competition in education; sorting among schools; and peer externalities. Other topics include occupational choice and occupational switching.
Recent Scholarly Achievements: Dr. Walsh published the article, "Effects of school choice on the margin: The cream is already skimmed" in Economics of Education Review (July 2008). He was awarded a $3,000 Junior Faculty Development Research Grant for the projects entitled, "Do Smaller Schools Induce Greater Parental Involvement?" and "When Schools Are Too Good" (June 2007).
On Teaching and Research: Dr. Walsh chose to pursue a Ph.D. in economics so that he would have the opportunity to show students that economics is a powerful, interesting, and relevant way of understanding the world's problems. Among the courses Dr. Walsh teaches at Saint Michael's is a class on the economics of education, which is his research field. He uses his research to bring more depth and real-world experience to the course.
Outside Saint Michael's: Dr. Walsh enjoys reading, kayaking (on wimpy flat rivers), hiking and camping, and movies.
Learn more about Dr. Walsh in his faculty spotlight.
Campus Office
Saint Edmund's Hall 363
Phone: 802.654.2682
Box 365
E-mail: pwalsh@smcvt.edu
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Faculty sketches were conceived and drawn by Eric Routhier '99.