First Austin Chair named

Kathleen Segerson, a professor of economics in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, has been named by the Board of Trustees to fill the Philip E. Austin Chair for a three-year term.

The chair was established with contributions made in honor of Austin, who stepped down last year after 11 years as president of the University.

Segerson, who specializes in environmental and natural resources economics, law, and applied microeconomics, joined the University in 1986 and served as chair of the economics department from 2001 to 2005.

“Dr. Segerson is extremely qualified to serve in this position and brings to it an outstanding reputation as a researcher and teacher,” says Provost Peter J. Nicholls.

“We are pleased to have someone in the chair who is regarded as a national expert in her field and who has dedicated her life not only to teaching and research but also to public service.”

She is a fellow of the American Agricultural Economics Association and fellow and president-elect of the the Association of Environmental and Resources Economists.

She was awarded both the AAUP UConn Chapter Research Excellence Award and the Alumni Association Award for Excellence in Graduate Teaching last year.

“It’s a great honor to be chosen to fill the Austin chair in its first three years,” says Segerson.

“President Austin was very dedicated not only to the University of Connecticut as an institution, but also more generally to research and teaching related to public policy and the use of economics to understand and solve social problems.

“It is my hope that I’ll be able to contribute to his legacy through my work in environmental economics and the support made possible through this chair.”

Segerson serves on the Science Advisory Board of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and was recently a member of the U.S. General Accounting Office’s expert panel on climate change economics.