Economics Alumni Updates

Mike Conrad (2015) is working on a Master’s degree in Physics at Oakland University and is taking actuarial exams.

Jacob Derrick (2016) is working on a law degree at Detroit Mercy.

Sumer Ghazala (2017) has been accepted into Yale Law School.

Dallia Salloum (2017) works as an economic analyst for the State of Michigan’s Bureau of Labor Market Information Services and Strategic Initiatives.

Karsten Szajner (2017) works as an assistant to Congresswoman Debbie Dingell in her Dearborn office.  He also serves as Education Chair of the Downriver Young Dems.

Andrew Daulton (2020) has been accepted into the Master of Applied Data Science program at UM-Ann Arbor.

Brady Malone (2020) is starting the PhD in Clinical Psychology program at the University of Detroit Mercy.

Kylil Morrow (2019) started the Master of Industrial Engineering program at UM-Dearborn.

Kevin Sword (2019) is starting law school at the University of Detroit Mercy. 

Michaela Warner (2019) started a position of Quality Control Analyst at Pfizer. 

Emily Kolinski Morris (1990), Chief Global Economist at Ford Motor Company delivered the commencement address at the December 2018 graduation ceremony.

She joined Ford Motor Company in 1997 and during that time has conducted economic analysis in varying roles for all of Ford’s major global markets, before becoming Ford’s chief economist in 2014. In this capacity, she manages the corporate economics group with major responsibility for the company's global economic and automotive industry forecasts supporting business strategy, finance and planning.

Prior to joining Ford, Morris spent four years as a fiscal analyst with the Michigan House of Representatives. In that non-partisan position, she provided council to House members on program funding and performance, testified regularly before the House Appropriations committee and interacted with stakeholders at all levels of state government.

Morris earned her B.A. from the University of Michigan-Dearborn in Economics and International Studies and a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Michigan. She is active in various professional organizations, currently serving on the board of the Council for Economic Education. She previously served a three-year term as an elected board member of the National Association for Business Economics (NABE), and is also a past president of the Detroit chapter of that organization. In 2015, she earned the designation of certified business economist (CBE) granted by NABE.

Will Robots Take Over Manufacturing Employment?  Alumnus Mike Folster Speaks on Human-Robot Collaboration

UM-Dearborn economics alumnus Mike Folster (1992) spoke to Prof. Pietrykowski’s labor economics course about the role of robots in manufacturing. He highlighted that there is currently a shortage of appropriately trained labor in manufacturing, which will increase as manufacturing expands and Baby Boomers retire. 

Robots will be needed to fill the labor shortage. Rather than replacing workers, Mr. Folster sees them as necessary supplements to the manufacturing process. He predicts that workers who are thinkers and tinkers and are STEM educated will enjoy good employment opportunities in manufacturing now and in the future.

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Paul Traub, Senior Economist at the Detroit Branch of the Federal Reserve Branch of Chicago Visits UM-Dearborn

Listening to UM-Dearborn alumnus Paul Traub is always a treat; who else can hold an audience’s close attention during a 75-minute lecture accompanied by 60+ slides filled with graphs?

Paul discussed the state of the U.S. economy and the uncertainty surrounding the economic policies that are going to be implemented by the new administration. Since Paul works at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago Detroit Branch, this talk also provided some idea on the Fed’s assessment of the current health of our economy and its economic forecast, which do not usually receive a lot of news coverage. The students appreciated seeing how what they are learning in the classroom is connected to the real life economic situation. We hope that Paul’s talks will become more regular.

Stay tuned for the announcement of the event in the fall. We would love to see our alumni at these events. The talks are free and open to the public.