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Picture
Detail of a Shea Locomotive, Cass Scenic Railroad, Pocahontas County, West Virginia. This locomotive is over 100 years old.
 2021 Commencement at West Virginia University with newly minted Dr. Chris Agba
​​Research Interests

​Economic policy, particularly (1) regional and rural economics and development; (2) international labor migration; (3) domestic job and occupational mobility; (4) natural resource management issues related to amenities, planning, and energy, and their implications for economic development. (5) Economic philosophy and history of economic thought.
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Education
Ph.D. (econ.), University of Southern California, 1981
M.A. (econ.), University of Southern California, 1979
​lic. oec. publ. (econ.), University of Zurich, Switzerland, 1975

Current Positions

  • Professor Emeritus
    Division of Resource Economics and Management
    ​West Virginia University

​Calling Card

Employment History 

 West Virginia University
  • Interim Director, Division of Animal and Nutritional Sciences, 2019-2021
  • Professor of Resource Economics and Management, 1993-2021
  • Faculty Research Associate, Regional Research Institute (RRI), 1993-2021
  • Director, Division of Resource Management, 1993-2006
  • Director, Division of Family and Consumer Sciences, 2004-2006
University of Colorado at Denver
  • ​Director, Urban and Regional Planning Program, 1988-1993
  • Associate Professor of Urban and Regional Planning, 1987-1993
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  • Assistant Professor, Department of Urban and Regional Planning, 1982-1988 (on leave of absence 1987-88)
Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao, PR China
  • ​Visiting Professor, 2016-2019
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH-Z)
  • Visiting Professor, Division of Landscape and Environmental Planning,  1999-2000 (on twelve-months sabbatical leave from WVU)
International Labour Office (ILO), Geneva, Switzerland
  • Visiting Research Associate, June 1990
Carl Fingerhuth & Partner, ​Zurich, Switzerland [current name: PLANAR AG]
  • Economist/Regional Planner, 1974-1976