Each month brings new reasons to celebrate within the Wilson College of Business. From birthdays and work anniversaries to groundbreaking research and meaningful milestones, this newsletter is a reflection of the vibrant, dedicated community we’ve built together. It’s a joy to share your successes, recognize your contributions and stay connected through stories that inspire.

This newsletter complements BCS Briefs, which highlights the outstanding work of our Business & Community Services team. You can expect Wilson Wire to arrive about two weeks after the BCS newsletter, continuing the momentum of good news and engagement across our college.

Thank you for all you do to make our college a welcoming community where we support and recognize those who make this place great — YOU!

Leslie K. Wilson
Dean

Living Our Values: Recognizing Impact

As part of our commitment to fostering a values-driven culture, we’re excited to introduce a new recognition initiative that emerged from this summer’s strategic planning meeting. Each faculty and staff member in the Wilson College of Business will receive a Wilson Kudos Kit, a set of 25 compliment cards providing a simple and meaningful way to acknowledge colleagues who exemplify the values we aspire to live every day.

Whether someone demonstrates student-success focus, welcoming spirit, trustworthiness, teamwork or an enterprising mindset, these cards offer an opportunity to celebrate the everyday actions that bring our shared values to life. You may choose to sign your name or remain anonymous. What matters most is recognizing and uplifting the contributions that make our college stronger.

Let’s continue building a culture of appreciation and shared purpose, one value-driven compliment at a time.

Wilson Declared Majors - Includes Duplicates

Research Roundup is a rotating, monthly feature showcasing the scholarship activity of a Wilson academic department. Scholarship can take many forms, and this feature allows us to learn about and celebrate the contributions of our colleagues across the college. 

Economics is proud to be the first department featured! We have a long history of producing high-quality peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, books, economic decision tools and textbook ancillaries that advance the profession, provide insights for policymakers, business, and communities, and support economics education. 

The research contributions from the economics faculty during the last annual review cycle (April 2024 - March 2025) reflect this ongoing commitment. Faculty published in leading outlets (see below) while also securing competitive research support. In 2024-2025 alone, Andres Cuadros-Meñaca earned a Rutgers Fellowship through the Ford Foundation, a Wilson College of Business Summer Research Award, and a UNI Pre-Tenure Faculty Grant Award. Further, several faculty members showcased their active research at professional conferences, strengthening the department’s reach and laying the groundwork for future publications.

• Chen, Zhengyang (Robin), and Victor J. Valcarcel. 2025. "Modeling inflation expectations in forward-looking interest rate and money growth rules." Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control 170: 104999. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jedc.2024.104999 

• Chen, Zhengyang (Robin), and Victor J. Valcarcel. 2025 "A granular investigation on the stability of money demand." Macroeconomic Dynamics 29: e40. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1365100524000427

• Cuadros-Meñaca, Andres, and Jhon James Mora Rodriguez. 2025. "Social violence and the impacts on education in migrant households." Economic research-Ekonomska istraživanja 38.1: 45-69. https://hrcak.srce.hr/331098 

• Campi, Mercedes, Masayasu Asai, Jonathan McFadden, Emilio Pindado, and Alicia Rosburg. 2024. “The Evolving Profile of New Entrants in Agriculture and the Role of Digital Technologies.” OECD Food, Agriculture, and Fisheries, paper N°209, https://doi.org/10.1787/d15ea067-en

We are proud to celebrate these contributions and encourage others to reach out to learn more about their work. The department values collaboration and is always interested in exploring new research collaborations throughout the college. 

Cheers!

Alicia Rosburg, Robert J. Waller Professor of Economics and Head

Let’s play!!! Our first playground activity is to determine how much you know about Wilson College. This timed 20-question trivia challenge will test your knowledge! The person with the most correct answers wins a dozen Scratch Cupcakes — delivered straight to their office by Dean Wilson herself (yes, really!). If there’s a tie, we’ll let fate decide with a random drawing. Ready to play? Let the cupcake quest begin! 

The survey closes at 5 p.m. on Oct. 17. When the winner is announced, the correct answers will be revealed!

In the future, only the next month’s birthdays will be provided.

Birthdays:

• October 2 – Nicholas Bailey

• October 6 – Debra Messerer

• October 14 – Robin Chen

• October 17 – Karen Reynolds

• October 19 – James Prier

• October 23 – Shahina Amin

• October 25 – Joey Miller

• November 5 – Elisabeth Soliz

• November 17 – Mian Wei

• November 20 – Joe Ugrin

• November 21 – Amy Igou

• November 22 – Andrew Harnois

WORKiversaries

• 2013 – Bruce Bowler

• 2020 – Beth Rozendaal

Celebration Station is opt-in only. If you want to be included, let your supervisor know.

In case you missed it, here are the InsideUNI business articles, September 5 through October 2!

• New Wilson College of Business research highlights ESOP benefits for young workers

• Best jobs for accounting majors

• How UNI sparked Cody Stirling’s product management career at Pinterest

• UNI hybrid accounting program sees significant growth

• Data Drives Business Success for UNI Student Entrepreneurs

• Giving back to UNI provides a deep and personal connection for the Nordstroms

• UNI’s SHRM chapter earns national recognition, cultivating future HR leaders

Submit suggestions for the next Wilson Wire monthly newsletter by emailing wilson.wire@uni.edu.