Richard K. Vedder, Professor of Economics, Ohio University
PRESENTATION TOPIC: "Why College Costs Too Much and What We Can Do About It"
Where & When
Date: Thursday, May 19
Time: 12:00 Noon
Location: Quaker Station, 135 South Broadway - Downtown Akron
Tickets: $20.00 per person
Order at www.akronroundtable.org
Richard Vedder is Edwin and Ruth Kennedy Distinguished Professor of Economics at Ohio University, an adjunct scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and Director of the Center for College Affordability and Productivity in Washington, DC. He is an economic historian by training specializing in the history of American labor markets and issues such as immigration, internal migration, slavery, unemployment and education. His book, Out of Work: Unemployment and Government in Twentieth-Century America, co-authored with Lowell Galloway, was the 1994 recipient of the Sir Antony Fisher International Memorial Award and was a Mencken Award finalist for Best Book. In addition to his several books, he has authored over two hundred scholarly papers which have appeared in The Journal of Economic History, Agricultural History, Explorations in Economic History and numerous other prestigious academic journals. Dr. Vedder has also written hundreds of shorter pieces for the serious popular press including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Christian Science Monitor, The American Enterprise, Forbes and the Chronicle of Higher Education.
Professor Vedder has held a number of visiting appointments, including serving as a Senior Economist with the Joint Economic Committee of the United States Congress and as John M. Olin Visiting Professor of Labor Economics and Public Policy at Washington University in St. Louis. In addition, he has been a visiting professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder and Claremont Men's College. Dr. Vedder is frequently asked to testify before Congress and he has advised numerous political leaders on public policy issues, including Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
Over the past decade, Dr. Vedder's research has increasingly addressed the issue of education. In 2004, he offered a critique of American higher education in his acclaimed book, Going Broke by Degree: Why College Costs Too Much. The next year he was appointed by U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings to serve on her Commission on the Future of Higher Education. In 2006 Dr. Vedder founded the Center for College Affordability and Productivity (CCAP), an independent research institute in Washington, DC that is dedicated to researching public policy and economic issues relating to post-secondary education. CCAP aims to facilitate a broader dialogue that challenges conventional thinking about costs, efficiency and innovation in American higher education.
Professor Vedder received a BA from Northwestern University and a MA and PhD from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He has taught over 10,000 students in his long career as a university professor and has received countless teaching awards. He and his wife Karen have been married for 42 years and live in Athens, Ohio. They have two grown children, Virin and Vanette, and two grandchildren, Corey and Evelyn."
Luncheon Sponsored by The University of Akron
