Garg \u2705, Mahi

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The Park Place EconomistVolume 11 | Issue 1 Article 62003Interview with Professor KumazawaMahi Garg '05Illinois Wesleyan UniversityThis News and Commentary is brought to you for free and open access by The Ames Library, the Andrew W. Mellon Center for Curricularand Faculty Development, the Office of the Provost and the Office of the President. It has been accepted for inclusion in Digital Commons@ IWU by the faculty at Illinois Wesleyan University. For more information, please contact digitalcommons@iwu.edu.©Copyright is owned by the author of this document.Recommended CitationGarg '05, Mahi (2003) "Interview with Professor Kumazawa," The Park Place Economist:Vol. 11Available at: http://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/parkplace/vol11/iss1/6Interview with Professor KumazawaThis news and commentary is available in The Park Place Economist: http://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/parkplace/vol11/iss1/6The Park Place Economist Volume XI 7Interview with Professor KumazawaMahi GargHad the phrase “gone full circle” not been soancient, I would have guessed that it was invented bysomeone who met with Professor Risa Kumazawa.Her interest in economics started at Illinois Wesleyanas a student, only to be brought back to good oldWesleyan in the capacity of a professor.  This isn’tthe only circle though – she was one of the foundingmembers of the Park Place Economist.  Her associa-tion with the journal started as an editor, and has con-tinued now in the form of an article in her name.This is not to suggest that she has spent herlife only in areas familiar to her, however.  Quite thecontrary, she came to Wesleyan straight from Japan,where she had been born and raised – quite a boldmove in my opinion.  Why Wesleyan all of places?Her brother was studying here, so she and her twinsister followed in his footsteps.  She started pursuingher bachelor’s degree in Economics with a minor inMathematics in 1990.  After getting a Master’s de-gree from Illinois State, she went to the University ofTexas at Austin where she completed her Ph.D.Her dissertation was on the effects of welfaregenerosity on the behavioral responses of welfare-prone women.  She made quite a few rather interest-ing observations, but the one that fascinated me mostwas the relationship between welfare generosity andwomen who often remarry.  Women divorced from afirst marriage and later married were more likely tohave used welfare benefits as a substitute source ofincome while they were single!  She chose this sub-ject because of her love for labor economics andthrough her interest and coursework in sociology.  Dr.Sikora, currently a professor of sociology atWesleyan, was her host father, and he helped in nur-turing this interest during her Research Honors project.While finishing her dissertation at Austin lastyear, she started her first faculty position at the Uni-versity of Mississippi’s economics department whereshe had a research grant from the U.S. Navy.  It wasthis position that helped her determine that she neededmore teaching experience.  She returned to her almamater for this purpose.  A big influence in that deci-sion was Dr. Seeborg, with whom she has sharedgreat relationships in various areas.  He was her advi-sor, mentor, and co-author, and is now a colleague.They wrote a paper together on the educational at-tainment of teenage unmarried mothers, further evi-dence of her interest in labor economics.One of the biggest changes that she noticedsince her return to IWU, is a decline in the number ofinternational students.  She enjoyed the various per-spectives they would bring to class, and is disappointedby the waning numbers.  A lot of things have stayedthe same though.  She was taught by professorsLeekley, Chapman and Seeborg, who are all still es-sential members of our economics faculty.Unfortunately, she will be leaving us at theend of the semester.  She plans to pursue a balancedcareer in teaching and research but at a larger univer-sity, something that she cannot do at a liberal arts col-lege like IWU.  She hopes to be remembered assomeone who encouraged students to continue inEconomics.  Encouragement was what helped her indeciding to pursue a Ph.D., and she hopes to helpsomeone else in a similar fashion.

Interview with Professor Kumazawa

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