Our Team
We're united by a drive to solve key problems and influence good policy.
Learn about our efforts and find out what you can do to support below.
Senior Research Fellows
Dr. Price has been a faculty member at SUU since 2014. He received his Ph.D. in Policy Analysis and Management from Cornell University and has since worked in a variety of analytic and educational roles. His research centers around the use of behavioral economics tools to improve educational and health outcomes.
Dr. Neilson joined the SUU faculty in 2020 as an Assistant Professor of Economics. He has a PhD in Economics from Clemson. He loves learning alongside and teaching economics and econometrics to SUU's wonderful students. His general research interests are in labor economics, the economics of education, and applied econometrics, and recent research has focused specifically on using contemporary econometric research methods to study the determinants of human capital investment.
Dr. Vallett teaches in the Master of Public Administration (MPA) program at SUU. He received his Ph.D. from Boise State University in Public Policy and Administration. His research interests center around policy incentives as a driving force for policy implementation, success, and ethical decision-making. Joel has continued to implement applied learning in the classroom and looks forward to helping his students develop into committed administrators and analysts.
Dr. McNamee is an Assistant Professor of Finance and the Director of the MBA Program in the Leavitt School of Business at SUU. He has a PhD from the University of Surrey and an MBA from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. His research is focused in the area of mergers and acquisitions.
Jacob Miller
Jacob Miller is the Head of Data Science at Pattern. He graduated from SUU ('03) and received an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern ('10). Prior to his time at Pattern, he was a Lecturer of Economics and Analytics at Southern Utah University. His research was focused on the effectiveness of regulatory action on illicit drugs.
Courtney Paulson
Dr. Paulson is an Assistant Professor at the Paul College of Business and Economics at the University of New Hampshire. Prior to that, she was the Director of Business Analytics at Southern Utah University. Since graduating with her Ph.D. in Business Administration (Statistics) from the University of Southern California in 2016, Paulson's research interests have focused on applying machine learning and statistical analysis to practical, real-world business problems, particularly in healthcare and marketing.
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Dr. Swigert is an economist at SUU, where he teaches economics and conducts research. His current work explores the economics of mental health using big data from online health provider platforms. Since receiving his Ph.D. from Cornell University, he has become a founding member of HEAL and is dedicated to helping students develop research skill and experience.
Student Research Fellows
Devin Anderson
Devin is a graduate student in the Masters of Business Analytics program . He is currently working on an analysis of a new need-based scholarship program at a regional public university. The goal of the project is to analyze the effectiveness and then provide a report to the university to help guide the program as it expands.
Eve Christensen
Eve is a senior majoring in Economics
Cody Dirks
Cody is a graduate student in the Masters of Business Analytics program. As a Research Fellow, he has worked with Elijah Neilson and Joshua Price. His own research examines the impact of Nevada's Read by Grade 3 Legislation passed in 2015. Cody presented his findings from this project at the Utah Conference of Undergraduate Research in 2023.
Helen Jessop
Helen is a senior Economics and Finance major. She is currently working with Dr. Nathan McNamee on a research project focused on mergers and acquisitions. She has also worked on a paper to estimate the impact of cost of college on attendance.
Jakob Harrison Stock
Jakob is a junior majoring in Economics with an emphasis in Analytics. He wrote his econometric paper on the relationship between caffeine consumption and income. He has also worked on projects with the Athletic Department.
Spencer Embelton
Spencer is a graduate student in the Masters of Business Analytics program. He is currently working on an analysis of a new need-based scholarship program at a regional public university. The goal of the project is to analyze the effectiveness and then provide a report to the university to help guide the program as it expands.
Jun Hanvey
Jun is a junior Economics major. She worked on a paper that examined the relationship between education and earnings in police officers as part of a bigger project to exam the role of education in improving police efforts. She presented her findings at the Utah Conference of Undergraduate Research in 2023. She is currently working on a project to examine admissions policies at a regional public university.
Chase Redd
Chase is a senior majoring in Economics and English with an emphasis in rhetoric and writing. His primary research interests are within the field of rhetoric, particularly in religious, spatial, and sensory rhetorics; however, in the field of economics, Chase is conducting research on the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on work from home markets as well as the returns to humanities majors compared to their peers. He hopes to attend grad school and study rhetoric while using his background in economics and empirical research to bolster his academic pursuits.
Kira Swann
Kira is a junior double majoring in Economics and Mathematics. She has done her own research examining the impact the gender and age of the lead actor in Disney produced films have on gross income. She is a member of the SUU Wind Symphony and currently leads the SUU Flute Choir.
Bailey Uzzardo
Nathan Wight
Nathan is a junior Economics and Human Nutrition major. He is currently working on a project to examine admissions policies at a regional public university.
Bailey is majoring in Economics and getting a minor in Management at SUU. She is currently working on a group project for HEAL that seeks to identify how the relationship between working from home and earnings has changed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Another goal of the project is to better understand the effect that working from home can have on a person's decision to enter into specific fields in the labor force.
Former Student Research Fellows
Holly Day
Holly graduated with a degree in Economics and Business Management major. She worked with Dr. Nathan McNamee on a project focused on mergers and acquisitions. Holly presented her own research at the Utah Conference of Undergraduate Research in 2023 on t the deterrent effects of sentencing length legislation on violent crime.
She currently works for the Partners Group as a Financial Analyst.
Andrei Hinckley
Andrei graduated with a degree in Economics. He has worked on projects in the field of sports economics. He worked with Dr. Price examining the economic impact of sporting events with a focus on geographic variations within a metropolitan area. He was a member of the SUU track and field team.
Class of 2023
Class of 2022
James Clark
James graduated in economics ('22). He published a working paper the studies the effect of the internet at home on National Park visitation. With co-author Ben Funk, they presented their research on the impact that the defensive shift in baseball at the Baseball Hall of Fame Symposium in Cooperstown, NY. He is an Analyst for the Resources Systems Group.
Ben Funk
Benjamin was a econ major ('22) with an emphasis in Analytics. He published a working paper examining the the impact that timing of bye weeks has on success in the National Football League. With co-author Ben Funk, they presented their research on the impact that the defensive shift in baseball at the Baseball Hall of Fame Symposium in Cooperstown, NY. He is working as a Financial Analyst for Zions Bancorp.
Colby Meline
Colby was a dual major in Economics and Philosophy ('22). He is continuing his studies at University of Texas Austin in Business Analytics. He has a working paper on the efficacy of solo exercise vs sports in terms of BMI outcomes.
Ava Whittington
Ava graduated in Economics ('22). Her research is focused on topics in Higher Education. She has examined the impact that spending on technology has on student outcomes. and examined the predictive power of standardized test scores on student success. She is a Report Developer at MarketStar.
Candace Fehr
Candace majored in economics ('22) and is pursuing her Master's in Public Policy from the University of Chicago. She wrote an econometrics paper on the relationship between religiosity and income. As a Research Fellow she worked with Dr. Neilson on a variety of different projects on the economics of education.
Cheyenne Lawrence
Cheyenne graduated in economics ('22). She wrote an econometrics paper analyzing how the gender wage gap differs between red and blue states. She worked with Dr. Swigert on a project using Natural Language Processing in partnership with Talk Space. She currently works as a Transfer Pricing Associate for KPMG.
Gideon Parry
Gideon graduated in Economics ('22) with an an emphasis in Business Analytics. He wrote an econometrics paper examining discrimination in the English Premier League. He has been working with Dr. Vallett on a project analyzing the diffusion of marijuana laws across states in the US. He is currently pursuing a Master's degree at Utah State in Statistics.
Mitchell Zufelt
Mitchell majored in Economics ('22). He served as Student Body Vice President of Academics for SUU. He has also worked as a Research Intern for the Justice Tech Lab at Texas A&M. He has a working paper titled "The Effects of Individual Ideology on US Congressional Productivity." After graduation, he worked as an intern in Washington DC and currently is a Research Associate at the University of Chicago Urban Labs.
Class of 2021
Jeff Rowley
Jeff earned his BA in Economics ('20) and his Master's in Business Analytics from SUU ('21). As a research fellow, Jeff focused his time on working on therapist value added models in partnership with TalkSpace. Jeff was the founding President of the Sports Analytics Club and was a 2x Academic All-American competing in the Javelin on the Track and Field Team. He currently works as a Digital Market Analyst at TaxHawk.
Zhuosheng Zhou
Zhuosheng graduated with a Master's Degree in Business Analytics from SUU ('21). He is from the beautiful flower city Guangzhou in southern China. His projects with HEAL include "Workplace Bullying, Mental Health, and Productivity: Evidence From An Online Therapy Platform", a topic he feels is interesting and useful for society.
Hailey Checketts
Hailey graduated from SUU ('21) with a degree in Mathematics and Statistics. She completed her MSBA ('22). She published a working paper on the relationship between high school extracurricular activities and future success. She currently works Data Analyst at Vivint Hill Solutions. She has plans to pursue a doctoral degree in Biostatistics.
Hyrum Worth
Kenadie Stanger
Kenadie earned her BA in Economics from SUU ('21). As a student she conducted research on professional women's soccer. She published a working paper examining the impact that the World Cup had on match attendance int he NWSL. She currently works as a Research Analyst for the Utah System of Higher Education.
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Brady DuPea
Brady completed his undergraduate degree from SUU ('21) in Economics. As an undergrad he worked on designing an intervention to nudge students to register for classes to increase retention rates. His first job was with the minor league hockey franchise the San Diego Gulls. He currently is a Sales Business Analyst with the Miami Dolphins
Jacob Mortenson
Jacob graduated in Economics from SUU ('21). As a research fellow, he worked on a project examining risk aversion among collegiate student-athletes. Jacob is currently an Associate Analyst at KLAS.
Hyrum completed his Master's Degree in Business Analytics at SUU ('21). He worked with Dr. Joel Vallett and Dr. Elijah Neilson on a project funded by a corporate sponsor, Operation Underground Railroad. The project was focused on program evaluation. Hyrum currently works as an Operations Analyst at Waterford.org.
Class of 2020
Kalvin Mudrow
Jared Rowley
Kalvin graduated from SUU ('20) in Economics in 2020. He is currently pursuing his PhD in Economics at West Virginia University. His research interests are in the economics of education and urban economics.
Jared graduated in Economics from SUU ('20). He published a working paper focused on the impact on health outcomes of pet ownership. He also worked on several projects in partnership with Talk Space. He is currently enrolled in Law School at Moritz College of Law at The Ohio State University.