PhD Mentoring (back to top)

PhD Dissertation Committee at MSU Economics; * indicates chair

9. *Willy Chen, 2022-present.
10. Kevin Mi, 2022-present.
11. Younghee Son, 2022-present.
12. Xin Liu, 2021-present.
13. Sierra Smith, 2020-2026. (University of Vermont Teaching Assistant Professor in 2026)
14. Wenjia Cao, 2019-2025. (Singapore Management University Assistant Professor in 2025)
15. Xu Dong, 2019-2025. (T-Mobile Data Scientist in 2025)
16. Katherine Zhou, 2018-2024. (Southeastern Louisiana U Assistant Professor in 2024; College of Holy Cross Assistant Professor in 2025)
17. Pallavi Pal, 2014-2020. (Stevens Institute of Technology Assistant Professor in 2020)

Pre-Dissertation PhD Mentoring at MSU Economics

9. Justin Farmer, Red Cedar third-year paper committee chair, 2026.
10. Matthew Kaefer, Red Cedar third-year paper committee member, 2026.
11. Jie Wu, Red Cedar third-year paper committee member, 2026.
12. Xu Dong, Directed Research Fellowship, 2022.
13. Katherine Zhou, Directed Research Fellowship, 2020, 2021.
14. Zijian Qi, Red Cedar third year paper committee member, 2019. (Texas Tech University Assistant Professor in 2025)
15. Kaidi Wu, Directed Research Fellowship, 2018.
16. Chris Fowler, Directed Research Fellowship, 2017.
17. Quinton Baker, Directed Research Fellowship, 2016.

PhD Dissertation Committee outside MSU Economics

5. Siyuan Lyu, PhD in Economics, Stony Brook University, 2026.
6. Hasan Gokberk Bayhan, PhD in Construction Management, Michigan State University, 2025.
7. Adna Bashir, PhD in Economics, National University of Sciences and Technology, Pakistan, external reviewer, 2024.
8. Naima Mubeen, PhD in Economics, National College of Business Administration and Economics, Pakistan, external reviewer, 2024.
9. Venkataram Chebiyyam, Master's in Applied Mathematics, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Pune, India, 2023.

Pre-PhD Mentoring (back to top)

Mentored Predoctoral Students in PhD Programs

17. Khushi Santosh Surana, IISER Bhopal master student, 2025. (UC Santa Cruz economics PhD)
18. Zekai Zhang, Harbin Institute of Technology Shenzhen undergrad, 2025–2026. (University of Pennsylvania economics PhD)
19. Nantong Chen, University of Michigan master, 2024-2025. (University of Warwick economics PhD)
20. Reza Yarbakhsh, University of Tehran master, 2024-2025. (University of Virginia computer science PhD)
21. William Carvalho, MSU Econ Scholar, 2023–2026. (MSU economics PhD)
22. Knickolas Laux, MSU Provost Undergraduate Research Initiative and Dean's Assistantship, 2023-2025. (Princeton University economics PhD)
23. Hanzhang Zhou, Tsinghua University undergrad, 2023-2025. (MIT Sloan TIES PhD)
24. Oliver Wenbao Dai, University of Minnesota undergrad, 2022-2023. (University of Minnesota finance PhD)
25. Yao Hou, Tsinghua University master, 2022. (University of Rochester economics PhD)
26. Hong Zhu, MSU statistics master, 2022. (MSU biostatistics PhD)
27. Babur Kacaoglu, MSU undegrad, 2023. (University of Pennsylvania economics PhD)
28. Peiyi Jin, SWUFE undergrad, 2019-2020. (National University of Singapore economics PhD)
29. Hanshi Zuo, MSU undergrad, 2018-2020. (Penn State economics PhD)
30. Yue Li, Nankai University undergrad, 2018-2019. (UCL economics PhD)
31. Dongming Yu, University of Michigan undergrad, 2017-2018. (MSU economics PhD)
32. Kim Gannon, MSU undergrad, 2016-2017. (Yale health policy and management PhD)
33. Eileen Yue Fang, Peking University undergrad, 2016. (University of Southern California economics PhD)

Predoctoral Mentoring at MSU

60. Hannah Kaczmarek, Econ Scholar, F2026-present;
61. Grace Jin, Provost Undergraduate Research Initiative, S2026-present.
62. Tina Chiou, Provost Undergraduate Research Initiative, S2026--present.
63. Daniel Helo Puccini, Honors College Professorial Assistantship, F2025--S2026.
64. Madhur Varshney, Pathway to Research, F2025-S2026. (to UMichigan Industrial and Operations Engineering MS)
65. Armando Zavala-Campos, Pathway to Research, F2025-S2026.
66. Zachary Kleinerman, Provost Undergraduate Research Initiative, Su2025-S2026.
67. Giles Alva, Provost Undergraduate Research Initiative, S2025-Su2025.
68. Armagan Caglayan, S2025-F2025.
69. Mohsin Christi (dual enrollee from Michigan Virtual Charter Academy), S2025.
70. Jiarui Hu, S2025-present.
71. Ayuushi Khanna, S2025-Su2025. (to UCLA Business Analytics MS)
72. Ian Kim (dual enrollee from Okemos High School), S2025-S2026. (to University of Michigan BA)
73. Tyler Webb, PURI, S2025-present.
74. Emery Akimanzi, F2024. (to Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München economics master)
75. Harrison Kubichi, Provost Undergraduate Research Initiative, F2024-S2025. (to University of Michigan JD)
76. Sarah Bejleri, Econ Scholar and Provost Undergraduate Research Initiative, F2024-S2026.
77. Anh Nguyen, Pathway to Research, F2023-present.
78. William Carvalho, Econ Scholar, F2023-S2026.
79. Jiayi Gu, Provost Undergraduate Research Initiative, F2023-S2025.
80. Cassidy Yoder, Honors College Professorial Assistantship, F2023-S2024.
81. Knickolas Laux, Provost Undergraduate Research Initiative and Dean's Assistantship, F2023-S2025. (to Princeton University economics PhD)
82. Mounika Yallamandhala, business data science and analytics master independent study, Su2023.
83. John Ahlin (Uiversity of Michigan), MSU ACRES NSF REU, Su2023.
84. Arnav Jain, master's in construction management thesis committee, Su2023.
85. Attulya (Ace) Gupta, Pathway to Research, F2022-S2024.
86. Rainy Jain, Provost Undergraduate Research Initiative, F2022-S2023.
87. Nadav Langberg, Provost Undergraduate Research Initiative, F2022.
88. Meital Lurie, Honors College Professorial Assistantship and Provost Undergraduate Research Initiative, F2022–present.
89. Quang Nguyen, Honors College Professorial Assistantship, F2022–S2023.
90. Jay Stansberry, Provost Undergraduate Research Initiative, F2022–S2023.
91. Calder Moore, Provost Undergraduate Research Initiative, Su2022–S2023.
92. Grace Chang Xu (MIT), MSU ACRES NSF REU, Su2022.
93. Hong Zhu, NSF, 2022. (to MSU biostatistics PhD)
94. Aylin Garcia (University of Texas at El Paso), MSU SROP, Su2022.
95. Nick Balesky, Econ Scholar, F2021-S2023.
96. Matt DiRisio, Honors College Professorial Assistantship & Provost Undergraduate Research Initiative, F2021–S2022.
97. Leyna Gatti, Honors College Professorial Assistantship, F2021–S2022.
98. Lian Martin, Provost Undergraduate Research Initiative, F2021–S2022. (UCSD data science master)
99. Jack Metty, Provost Undergraduate Research Initiative, F2021–S2023.
100. Sarah Pilewski, Provost Undergraduate Research Initiative, F2021–Su2022.
101. Conner Roy, Honors College Professorial Assistantship, F2021–S2022.
102. Tanner Thering, Provost Undergraduate Research Initiative, F2021–S2022. (Boston Fed RA)
103. Archan Tulpule, Honors College Professorial Assistantship, F2021–S2023.
104. Junheng Yue, Provost Undergraduate Research Initiative, F2021–S2022. (Wake Forest business analytics master)
105. Tran Nguyen-Phuong (Tulane), MSU SROP, Su2021.
106. Alexander Fos, Provost Undergraduate Research Initiative, Su2021. (Wisconsin economics MS)
107. Evan Seyhun, Provost Undergraduate Research Initiative, Su2021.
108. Nicholas Butler, Honors College Professorial Assistantship, F2020-F2021.
109. Josephine Pelton, Econ Scholars, F2020-S2022.
110. Babur Kocaoglu, independent research, S2020. (NY Fed RA; University of Pennsylvania economics PhD)
111. Ethan Pritchard, Honors College Professorial Assistantship, F2019-S2023.
112. Jack Mueller, Econ Scholars and Honors College Professorial Assistantship, F2018-S2021 (SF Fed RA).
113. Hanshi Zuo, Honors College Professorial Assistantship, F2018-S2020. (Penn State economics PhD)
114. Lauren Swartz, Econ Scholars, F2018-S2020 (MSU marketing research master).
115. Alexis Hollowell, Econ Scholars, F2017-S2019 (MSU human resource and labor relations master).
116. Nicholas Anderson, Honors College Professorial Assistantship, F2017-S2018.
117. Whitney Zhou, Econ Scholars and Provost Undergraduate Research Initiative, F2016-S2019.
118. Jacob Schmitter, Honors College Professorial Assistantship, F2016-S2017.
119. Kim Gannon, Dean's Assistantship and Provost Undergraduate Research Initiative, Su2016-S2017. (J-PAL RA; Yale public health and management PhD)

Predoctoral Mentoring outside MSU

23. Zihan Zhao, Renmin University, 2025.
24. Yazhuo Cai, Tsinghua University, 2025.
25. Hongrui Wei, Peking University, 2025-present. (to Duke MA Economics)
26. Khushi Santosh Surana, IISER Bhopal master student, 2025. (UC Santa Cruz economics PhD)
27. Zhaodi Wang, Wuhan University, 2025-present. (to Duke MS in Economics and Computation)
28. Yiyang Qin, Fudan University, 2025-present. (to Chicago MS in statistics)
29. Meilin Tang, London School of Economics, 2025.
30. Zekai Zhang, Harbin Institute of Technology Shenzhen, 2025-present. (to University of Pennsylvania economics PhD)
31. Alan Hongming Mao, BASIS Independent McLean, 2024-2025. (to UC Berkeley undergraduate)
32. Reza Yarbakhsh, University of Tehran, 2024-2025. (to University of Virginia computer science PhD)
33. Nantong Chen, University of Michigan, 2024-2025. (to University of Warwick economics PhD)
34. Hanzhang Zhou, Tsinghua University, 2023-2025. (to MIT Sloan TIES PhD)
35. Dylan Quan, Purdue, 2023-2024. (to Chicago Harris MPP)
36. Xinyi Xue, Beijing Foreign Studies University, 2023. (to University of Chicago public policy master with certificate in research methods)
37. Oliver Wenbao Dai, University of Minnesota, 2022-2023. (to University of Minnesota finance PhD)
38. Yao Hou, Tsinghua University, 2021-2022. (to University of Rochester economics PhD)
39. Shuman Zhang, University of Minnesota, 2021-2023. (to NYU economics master)
40. Peiyi Jin, SWUFE, 2019-2020. (to National University of Singapore economics PhD)
41. Rohini Das, Jadavpur, 2019. (to University of Alberta computer science master)
42. Suo Shi, University of Wisconsin, 2019. (to Cambridge economics MPhil)
43. Yue Li, Nankai University, 2018-2019. (to Oxford economics MPhil and UCL economics PhD).
44. Dongming Yu, University of Michigan, 2017-2018. (to MSU economics PhD)
45. Eileen Yue Fang, Peking University, 2016. (to USC economics PhD)

MSU Undergraduates Recommended to Graduate Programs

17. Muzammil Ali, 2026, Boston College, PhD in economics.
18. Knickolas Laux, 2025, Princeton University, PhD in Economics.
19. Hanshi Zuo, 2024, Penn State University, PhD in Economics.
20. Duo Shen, 2021, Brandeis University, MS in Business Analytics.
21. Zewei Li, 2021, Columbia University, MSc in Applied Analytics.
22. Qingtong Zheng, 2020, LSE, MSc in Environmental Economics and Climate Change.
23. Hao Wang, 2020, University of Southern California, MSc in Finance.
24. Yibing Sun, 2020, University of Glasgow, MSc in Finance and Management.
25. Kexin Guo, 2019, Boston University, Master of Arts in Economics.
26. Chengcheng Zhao, 2019, Korea University, Master of Business Administration.
27. Zhongyao Zhou, 2019, Columbia University, Master of Science in Actuarial Science.
28. Zixun Lu, 2018, Boston College, Master of Science in Finance.
29. Xinyi Fan, 2017, Boston College, Master of Science in Finance.
30. Joshua Jackson, 2017, Medical College of Wisconsin, Medical Doctorate.
31. Tianchi Liang, 2017, Boston University, Master in Management Studies.
32. Siyao Xue, 2017, Northeastern University, Master of Arts in Economics.
33. Haixia Zhu, 2017, Johns Hopkins University, Master of Science in Finance.

Outreach (back to top)

General Audience Engagement and Presentations

• Navigating the Publication Process, MSU Department of Economics Graduate Student Professional Development Seminar, April 2025.
• Can Machine Learning Help Team Performance?,
• Science in the Garden, MSU Science Festival, April 2022.
• Gardner International Magnet School, 7th graders, April 2022.
• Fireside Chat, MSU Honors College, September 2021.
• Economics Graduate School, MSU Summer Research Opportunities Program for underrepresented students, July 2021.
• How Do People Pair Up?, MSU Science Festival, April 2021.
• Generating and Developing Research Ideas, MSU Department of Economics Graduate Student Professional Development Seminar, March 2019.
• Academic Economics Job Market, HCEO Summer School on Socioeconomic Inequality, July 2016.
• The Game of Life: Understanding Education & Marriage with Game Theory, Women & Leadership Archives, Loyola University of Chicago, March 2015.
• Expose Yourself! Endless LOVE, University of Chicago, February 2014.

Media Mentions and Interviews

• High and rising concentration of award-winning economists (with Richard B. Freeman, Danxia Xie, and Hanzhang Zhou),
  July 2024.
  Media coverage: The Atlantic, Financial Times, Firstpost, Forbes, Forum New Economy, Guardian
• 26 Amazon Research Awards recipients announced, January 2023.
  featured on major Chinese media outlets such as Tencent, Sohu, Sina, 163, and Zhihu.
• Assortative mating on blood type: Evidence from one million Chinese pregnancies (with Yao Hou, Ke Tang, Jingyuan Wang, and Danxia Xie),
  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, December 2022.
  featured on blogs such as Marginal Revolution, National Affairs, and Bipartisan Alliance.
  featured on major Chinese media outlets such as Tencent, Sohu, Sina, Zhihu, and Yahoo Taiwan.
• Losing common ground: New MSU study reveals rising American political extremism, animosity and activism, MSU College of Social Science News, September 2022.
• Meridian Township's Chinese Restaurants in the Pandemic, Spartan Newsroom, April 2021.
• MSU Receives $1.2M NSF Grant to Study Intelligent Social Network Interventions, MSU Today, January 2020.
• How Your Marriage Can Affect Your Health, Femina (the oldest magazine for women in India), February 2018.
• Three Questions with Hanzhe Zhang, Human Capital and Economic Opportunities Global Working Group, June 2016.
• HCEO Announces First Summer Scholar-in-Residence, Human Capital and Economic Opportunities Global Working Group, May 2016.

Research Organization (back to top)

• Co-founder and organizer, Theory Reading Group, MSU, 09/2019-08/2024.
• Organizer, Theory Seminar, MSU, 2016F-2017S, 2021F-2023S.
• Co-founder (with James Heckman) and organizer, Family Game Theory Reading Group, University of Chicago, 02/2016-09/2016.
• Organizer, Theory Brown Bag, MSU, 09/2015-08/2024.
• Co-founder and organizer, Chicago Chinese Social Research Group, 09/2013-06/2025.
• Organizer, Economic Theory Workshop, University of Chicago, 01/2013-06/2015.
• Co-founder and organizer, Market Design Reading Group, University of Chicago, 04/2012-06/2015.

Committees (back to top)

• Tenure Reading Committee, 2026.
• College Research Committee, 2025–2026.
• Member, Board of Directors, Spartan Chinese School, 06/2024–present.
• Judge, University Undergraduate Research and Arts Forum, 04/2025.
• Chair, Qualifying Exam Committee, MSU, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026.
• Member, Qualifying Exam Committee, MSU, 2016, 2018, 2019.
• Member, Graduate Admissions and Awards Committee, MSU, 2016-2017, 2022-2023.
• Member, Extended Advisory Committee, MSU, 06/2019.
• Alumni interviewer for undergraduate admissions, University of Pennsylvania, 2018-2025 (program discontinued).
• Member, Departmental Computer Committee, MSU, 09/2016-05/2017.
• Member, Advisory Committee, MSU, 2015-2016.
• Member, Kravis Award Committee for Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching, University of Pennsylvania, 2010.

Refereeing (back to top)

• Co-Editor, Canadian Journal of Economics, 07/2025–present.

Journals

1. American Economic Journal: Microeconomics
2. American Economic Review
3. American Economic Review: Insights
4. American Mathematical Monthly
5. Applied Operations and Analytics
6. China Economic Review
7. Economic Modelling
8. Economic Theory
9. Economics of Education Review
10. Encyclopedia
11. European Economic Review
12. F1000Research
13. Frontiers in Robots and AI
14. Frontiers in Sociology
15. Games
16. Games and Economic Behavior
17. IEEE Access
18. Information Systems Research
19. International Journal of Economic Theory
20. International Journal of Game Theory
21. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization
22. Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control
23. Journal of Economic Psychology
24. Journal of Economic Theory
25. Journal of Economics and Management Strategy
26. Journal of Evolutionary Economics
27. Journal of Human Resources
28. Journal of Labor Economics
29. Journal of Political Economy
30. Journal of Population Economics
31. Journal of Public Economic Theory
32. Journal of Sports Economics
33. Journal of Systems Science and Systems Engineering
34. Oxford Economic Papers
35. PLOS ONE
36. Quantitative Economics
37. Research on Aging
38. Sustainability
39. Review of Economic Studies
40. Review of Economics and Statistics
41. Theoretical Economics

Conference Proceedings

1. American Society of Civil Engineers Construction Research Congress (ASCE CRC)
• Track: Automation in construction
• Track: Infrastructure systems, sustainability, and resilience
2. Computer Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing (CSCW)
3. Neural Information Processing Systems (NeurIPS) workshop

Books

1. McGraw Hill
2. Open Textbook Network
3. W. W. Norton & Company

Grants

1. US National Science Foundation (2020, 2021, 2022, 2023)
2. French National Agency