Undergraduate Student News

Emory Wheel includes Econ-Math 2025 Graduate and Economics Professor and Department Chair in its tribute to Student-Faculty Relationships

For the 2025 Graduation Magazine, the Arts & Life section of The Emory Wheel paid tribute to the special relationships that often form between students and their professors. Three pairs of students and professors sat down to have a conversation about "their shared experiences, the professors’ professional goals, life in general and everything in between."

One such interview was between Álvaro Vaz (25C),  a joint economics and mathematics major, and Hashem Dezhbakhsh, Goodrich C. White Professor of Economics and Department Chair. 

Questions posed to Prof. Dezhbakhsh by Vaz included, "What inspires you to have all of this intellectual curiosity?"  and "10 years from now, what would be news that would make you happy about me? That would make you feel “Wow, I did a good job as a teacher, as a professor?”  Read the full interview including Prof. Dezhbakhsh's questions for Vaz.

Source: “At the table: Emory students, professors reflect on time spent together,” by Arts & Life Staff, The Emory Wheel, May 13, 2025.

Economics-Business Student Recieves Boisfeuillet Jones Award

Congratulations to Giray Yimaz 25C, double major in Economics and Business, recently received the Boisfeuillet Jones Award from the Goizueta Business School at Emory University.

This medal honors students for their good citizenship, outstanding leadership, devoted service to Emory and the community, academic performance and potential to become a “change agent” in their chosen profession and society at large.

Source: “Class Day Crossover honors graduates with celebrity guest speaker, on-campus celebration and more” by Anna Chapman, Emory News Center, May 14, 2025. Photo by Jenni Girtman, Atlanta Event Photography.

Emory EMS Chief Martinna Roldan and Team Honored with Georgia EMS of the Year Award for Outstanding Service

At the Georgia Emergency Medical Services Association (GEMSA) ceremony in April 2025, the Emory Emergency Medical Service (EEMS) was named Georgia Emergency Medical Service of the Year. The award is given to a service that “exemplifies outstanding professionalism on the local, regional and state levels, as well as service to the community.” Specifically, it’s given to those who go above and beyond the call of duty, whether in community engagement or the delivery of patient care.

Martinna Roldan, chief of Emory EMS and an Economics and Human Health joint-major, is featured in an Emory University News article about this year's award. According to the article, "Roldan, an international student from Ecuador, is a senior studying economics and human health. As chief, she oversees the entire agency — a team of more than 70 volunteers who operate under Emory’s Office of Critical Event Preparedness and Response (CEPAR). During her first year at Emory, a friend had a scooter accident and EEMS answered the 911 call... I was amazed at how compassionate and professional they were as they guided us through things,” she remembers. “I asked if they were doctors, and they said no but they were here to take care of us.” Since the application period had closed, she joined the next year, as soon as she could."

Undergraduate Students Recognized with Department Awards

The Department of Economics recognized the following undergraduate students for their outstanding academic achievements in an annual awards ceremony on April 14, 2025.

• The Jack and Lewis Greenhut Prize: Jessie Zhu (Honors Student) 
• The Tate Whitman Prize in Economics: Tianqi Zhang (Honors Student)
• Award for Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Assistants: Oyinlola (Lola) Olawoye and Rebecca Savaris-Branco

In addition, this year our new Economics Leadership Program awarded the following two undergraduate awards: 

• Economics Leadership Award: Sophie Barthel
• Economics Community Leadership Award: Martinna Roldan

Congratulations to all of this year's award winners! Learn more about these annual departmental awards on our Undergraduate Honors and Awards page and Economics Leadership Program page.

Emory Undergraduate Team Secures Third Place at the 10th Annual UChicago Econometrics Games

We're thrilled to announce that our undergraduate team secured Third Place at the prestigious 10th Annual UChicago Econometrics Games, April 4-6, 2025. This marks the first time an Emory University team has competed in this challenging event, making their achievement even more remarkable. Congratulations to the talented team members: Sophie Barthel, Davis Shelton, Jihan Lee, and Daniel Bell. All four are students in Dr. Krzysztof Karbownik’s ECON499RW Undergraduate Research in Economics course, building on skills from his Causal Inference class.

Their journey began by qualifying from a pool of nearly 100 international teams. In Chicago, they competed against top institutions like Harvard, UChicago, LSE, Duke, and more. They tackled a demanding 12-hour challenge—analyzing data and developing research—ultimately earning a spot among the top 5 teams in the final presentation round.

They impressed the judges, Professors Shimer and Bonhomme from UChicago, securing their place on the podium after Duke (1st) and Harvard (2nd). Placing third in such a high-caliber competition on their first attempt is a phenomenal accomplishment. We are incredibly proud of their analytical skills, teamwork, and dedication.

Economics Students Recognized in 100 Senior Honorary Class of 2025

Economics students chosen as 2025 Bobby Jones Scholars for study in Scotland

Four Emory College students including two Economics students, have been selected to be Bobby Jones Scholars at the University of St Andrews in Scotland. 

Emory University will send these four outstanding graduating seniors to Scotland for additional study next fall through the elite Robert T. Jones Jr. Scholarship program.

Emory College of Arts and Sciences seniors (l-r) Lydia King, David Lee, Elizabeth Martin and Lucas San Miguel will complete a year of interdisciplinary study at the University of St Andrews in honor of the legendary amateur golfer and scholar who attended Emory School of Law.

Read the full story at Emory News.

Emory News Center article by April Hunt, photo by Kay Hinton, Emory Photo/Video, 3/3/2025.

Economics student David Lee wins gold at World Taekwondo Championship

David Lee, a senior political science and economics major from Gwinnett County, won a gold medal in the team male under 30 at the World Taekwondo in December 2024 in Hong Kong. According to Lee, “It took well over a decade to master the moves to compete on the world stage and to set myself out on this road...[and] I feel very fortunate to be at Emory, where I can study and have the proximity to train at my dojang.” Lee expressed that he "enjoys the theoretical focus of his political science major and the empirical and quantitative aspects of his economics minor. Then, after participating in a summer economics program at the University of Chicago, he realized how to combine them."

Read the full story at Emory News.

Emory News Center article by April Hunt, photo by Sarah Woods, Emory Photo/Video, 2/12/2025.

Economics 4+1 Student, Charlize Samuels' Research Featured in Emory News

At the AI.Data Lab showcase held by Emory’s Center for AI Learning, students across various disciplines presented their findings resulting from semester-long research projects, in which they applied a variety of methods to address humanitarian issues such as food insecurity, business development in Atlanta and bias in art.  

Corporate sponsors for the student teams included The Carter Center, Invest Atlanta, the Michael C. Carlos Museum and TechBridge. 

Charlize Samuels, a master’s student in Economics at Emory University’s Laney Graduate School, presented her team’s findings at the symposium. Their project was sponsored by TechBridge, a nonprofit organization that provided the team with years of transactional data across food bank and distributor networks. Students were asked to examine the supply chain and public health impacts of TechBridge’s software.  

“I try to think about everything in economics terms, which is really the main inspiration for this project,” says Samuels, who participates in a 4+1 program that allows students to obtain both their bachelor’s and master’s degrees in five years.  

Read the full story at Emory News.

Emory News Center article by Sylvie Wages, photo by Avery D. Spalding, Emory Photo/Video, 1/10/2025.