{"id":275,"date":"2020-02-24T16:07:40","date_gmt":"2020-02-24T21:07:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transy.edu\/academics\/faculty\/gwilliams\/"},"modified":"2026-03-16T10:47:22","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T14:47:22","slug":"gwilliams","status":"publish","type":"faculty","link":"https:\/\/www.transy.edu\/academics\/faculty\/gwilliams\/","title":{"rendered":"Williams, Geoffrey"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Geoffrey Williams took an unusual path to becoming an economics professor. He began his education in acting school at New York University, where he earned a B.F.A. degree before moving on to graduate programs in economics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIronically, I was kind of afraid of school,\u201d he says. \u201cI was intimidated by the discipline of college, so it was an easy way out. So I\u2019m sympathetic to the students who are having a rough time, but I also really want them to pull it together.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He says if he had it all to do over, he would have focused more on math in college. Even so, that acting experience gave Williams some of the teaching skills he uses today, like presence in front of an audience and self-confidence to tackle any sort of presentation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA lot of the teachers here, actually, remind me of acting friends of mine. You\u2019ve got to communicate well, and you\u2019ve got to have a certain persona.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Williams conducts research on crime and social policy, using economic models and tools to try to understand why people commit crime. Lots of research argues that crime is based mostly on income level, but Williams believes that it\u2019s just as much, if not more, behavioral. In the research he\u2019s done, measures of impatience and self-control seem to be much more powerful than measures of income or economic situations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What I really want my students to get from studying economics is power. Through a greater understanding of what\u2019s going on around them, I hope to give them confidence that they can understand the world and become involved.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This has gotten him interested in the role that early childhood health and education play in long-term lifetime outcomes, and the surprising impact of some policies. For example, some researchers argue that when the government mandated that lead, a highly toxic substance that inhibits brain development in children exposed to it, be removed from gasoline in the 1970s and 1980s, it caused a reduction in the national crime rate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat happens in the first couple years of life is incredibly important, and that\u2019s one of the reasons early childhood stuff is so interesting to me. Even if someone comes from a low-income background, there are things you can do to set those traits.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a concept Williams tests daily with his two-year-old son.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDefinitely part of my interest in early childhood issues comes from being a father.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Geoffrey Williams website<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n

Academic History<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ph.D., M.A., Economics, Rutgers University, 2012, 2009
M.B.A., Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, 1999
B.F.A., Acting, New York University, 1991<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Courses Taught at Transy<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Introduction to Economics
Principles of Macroeconomics
Economics and Business Statistics
Econometrics<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Areas of Research<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Applied theory
Econometrics
Labor economics
Social economics<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Awards<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Sidney I. Simon Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, Rutgers Economics Department, 2012
Alfred S. Eichner Economics Prize, Rutgers Economics Department, 2011<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

Recent Publications<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

“Institutional Requirements for Effective Imposition of Fines,” with Anne Morrison Piehl in Controlling Crime: Strategies and Tradeoffs, edited by Philip J. Cook, Jens Ludwig, and Justin McCrary, University of Chicago Press, 2011<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additional Information<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Associate Director, Africa House, New York University, 2004\u201307. Planned seminars, panel discussions, conferences and other events looking at major social, economic, and political issues across Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Freelance consultant, Internet services and telecommunications industries, 2000\u201304<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":4479,"template":"","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"academic_division":[19,45,37,3],"class_list":["post-275","faculty","type-faculty","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nWilliams, Geoffrey - Transylvania University<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.transy.edu\/academics\/faculty\/gwilliams\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Williams, Geoffrey\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Geoffrey Williams took an unusual path to becoming an economics professor. 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