The President’s Colleagues of Dixie State University will host Dr. Larry Wimmer in a presentation on the science of economics.
Wimmer will present “The Dismal Science Revisited: What Economists ‘Think’ They Know and are Sure They Don’t Know” at noon on Dec. 4 in the Zion Room on the fifth floor of Dixie State’s Holland Centennial Commons. The meeting is free, and the community is encouraged to attend.
With a primary area of interest in American economic history, Wimmer has researched and written publications on U.S. monetary history, income and wealth distribution in early Utah, and standards of living for U.S. families during the last half of the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Professionally, Wimmer was a research associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research Institute from 1979 until his retirement in 2008. He has been involved in a collaborative project jointly sponsored by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Aging that studies the interactions between early childhood and young adulthood diseases and stress and socioeconomic and biomedical factors during middle and late ages.
In addition to his work with the institute, Wimmer is an emeritus professor of economics at Brigham Young University and served as chair of the Department of Economics for six years. For his teaching, Wimmer received the Karl G. Maeser Distinguished Teaching Award, the Freedom Foundation's Award for Excellence in Private Enterprise Education and the Student Award for Excellence from the Student Alumni Association.
Additionally, he received a Fulbright Award for teaching and research in Taiwan and a Distinguished Service Award from the Utah Academy of Sciences, Arts & Letters. He also was a recipient of the Mormon History Association Award for the Best Work in the Field of Mormon History for co-authoring the book “The Kirkland Economy Revisited: A Market Critique of Sectarian Economics.”
He earned a bachelor’s degree from Brigham Young University and a master’s and doctorate from the University of Chicago.
The President’s Colleagues of DSU was established more than 20 years ago by Dixie State Professor Emeritus Dr. Douglas Alder. The group of primarily retired professors and professionals was organized as a way to increase academic activities on campus. At their next meeting, the President’s Colleagues will hear from Jon Rich, owner of Jacob Lake Resort, as he presents “The Art of Navajo Weaving.” The lecture is set to take place at noon on Jan. 8 in the Zion Room.
