The Visiting Scholar program brings to Furman's campus an economist with notable research achievements in an area of interest to faculty and students.

He or she presents a research seminar to our economics students and professors and lectures in selected classes. Most importantly, the Visiting Scholar reads and critiques the work of our Hollingsworth Undergraduate Research Fellows, who have been working on research projects throughout the previous summer.

About the Visiting Scholar's Program

In a formal seminar setting, the Undergraduate Research Fellows present their work to the Visiting Scholar and selected guests, and the Visiting Scholar discusses the students' papers. The students gain practice at presenting their work and receive useful criticism that helps them refine their research.

William Levernier, our 2007 Visiting Scholar, is a Professor of Economics at Georgia  Southern University. The Visiting Scholar for 2006 was Doug Woodward, the Director of Division of Research and Professor of Economics at The Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina.  The Visiting Scholar for 2005 was Frank Hefner of the College of Charleston whose research is concentrated on regional economics. The Visiting Scholar for 2004 was David Barkley, a Furman alumnus, Co-Coordinator of the Regional Economic Development Research Laboratory, and Professor in the Department of Applied Economics & Statistics at Clemson University. The Visiting Scholar for 2003 was Julie Hotchkiss of Georgia State University and the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.

Jon Rork was a member of the faculty at Vassar College for six years before joining the faculty at Georgia State in the fall of 2006. His research interests are in issues of interjurisdictional competition, the economics of state gaming and state lotteries, and the economics of the elderly. His work has been published in journals such as National Tax Journal, Regional Science and Urban Economics, and Economic Inquiry. Jon received his A.B. with honors in Applied Mathematics-Economics from Brown University in 1994 and his Ph.D. in economics from Stanford in 1999.