October 21, 2004

A new study of economic education research productivity among colleges and universities has ranked James Madison University in the top 20 nationwide.

The study, conducted by Melody Lo and M.C. Wong, two assistant professors of economics at the University of Southern Mississippi, used data from The Journal of Economic Education, published at Indiana University.

The study tied JMU at 15th with Duke University, New York University, the University of Delaware and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The top-ranked school in the study was Vanderbilt University in Nashville.

"This ranking is a tribute to our faculty and their dedication to improving teaching," said Dr. Ehsan Ahmed, director of JMU's economics program.

JMU has a nationally recognized Center for Economic Education that conducts research in economic education and serves area schools with funding from a local non-profit organization, Shenandoah Valley Economic Education.

"We couldn't have achieved this without SVEE," said center Director William C. Wood, a JMU professor of economics. "Their continuing funding makes it possible for us to do the field work and research that it takes for this kind of ranking."

The Lo-Wong study will be included in the forthcoming book, Shaping the Learning Curve: Essays on Economic Education.