Patricia Smith, Ph.D.

Professor of Economics
Patricia Smith
College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters
Social Sciences
2280 Social Sciences Building | 4901 Evergreen Road | Dearborn, MI 48128

Research Areas:

Fast Food, Health / Health Disparities, Microeconomics, Research Methods

Biography and Education

Professor Smith earned her undergraduate degree in economics from the University of Wyoming and both graduate degrees in economics (M.A. and Ph.D.) at Virginia Tech.  She joined the UM-Dearborn faculty in 1988.   

Research

Professor Smith’s research focuses on the relationships between health and socioeconomic status. For example,

Teaching

Professor Smith teaches principles of microeconomics (ECON202), the economics of poverty and discrimination (ECON325), and quantitative methods for economists.  The two quantitative methods courses are: ECON305: Statistics for Economics, in which students learn to collect, evaluate, organize, and analyze data in order to make better decisions; and ECON4015: Introduction to Econometrics, in which students learn to use linear regression analysis to estimate economic relationships and to test economic theories.

Education

Ph.D., (Economics) Virginia Tech