This year, the UD Alfred Lerner College welcomed several new faculty members into its community. Barton Willage is an associate professor of economics; he spoke with Lerner about his research focus and why he is excited to join the University of Delaware.
Lerner: What is your professional and academic background?
Willage: I earned my Ph.D. in economics from Cornell University in 2018. After that, I was an assistant professor at Louisiana State University for four years, and then two years at University of Colorado – Denver.
Lerner: What is your research focus?
Willage: I’m an applied micro-economist. My dissertation focused on how government policies can impact risky health behaviors. Since then, I have also researched on a broad range of topics in health economics, labor economics, and public economics. My favorite research has combined multiple sub-fields.
Lerner: What inspired you to work in your field/research/subject area?
Willage: I had a few very helpful mentors who worked on somewhat related topics. Especially as a graduate research assistant, I learned a lot about how research is done in these areas. I also have a lot of questions about these topics, and if no one else is going to answer them, I might as well try.
Lerner: What is it about UD that made you want to work/teach/research here?
Willage: UD’s economics department is very strong, with several other applied micro-economists. There have also been several recent hires doing very interesting research. I’ve been very impressed with the undergraduate and graduate students that I’ve interacted with. Finally, I think a Fightin’ Blue Hen is a great mascot!
Lerner: What course are you most excited to teach at Lerner?
Willage: Probably Health Economics. I think students don’t often think about how health and economics go together, but this is a large area of economics that ties in to several other areas of Lerner, including hospitality (I have a paper about calorie counts on menus and their impact on business). This is my favorite class to have students really try to understand the world from an economics perspective.
Lerner: What is something unique about you that may surprise your peers/students? (hobby, talent, experience etc.)
Willage: This is more of an aspirational hobby, and we’ll see if I’ve made much progress in a year from now. But I’m trying to get into watchmaking, which is watch repair. All the pieces are so small, so it’s possible I’ll lose a few…what a disaster!