Professional Physicists - Economics

Economists study the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services.

Job title:
Professor (two institutions)
Partner in a small software firm

Educational background:
B.A., Physics
Ph.D., Economics

What do you do?
I research, teach graduates, advice on policy (government advisory committees in the U.S. and Europe), and manage a small firm.

Why did you decide to pursue a physics-related education?
I liked applied mathematics. I worked as a programmer at the Lawrence Berkeley Lab in a bubble chamber group during college summers, and found I loved data analysis and research.

How has your physics background helped you in your career?
I learned the basics of nonlinear optimization and computer programming, especially as it relates to large statistical datasets, while I was working as a physics programmer at Berkeley before and after my B.A. I then switched these skills to economics because of a transcontinental move, and went to graduate school after 12 years of programming in economics. During those years and before going to grad school, I had started a small econometric software firm that is still in existence.

How have you balanced family and career commitments?
Luck. I married and had children young while I was a programmer. I went to graduate school while they were in high school and made my academic career after they had left home. I travel internationally a great deal now (more than half to three quarters of my time is away from home) and could not have done this when they were at home.

Do you have any advice for college students who are interested in pursuing careers in physics?
Be flexible (and opportunistic) in your career. Mine was pretty accidental.