Frank Gery Endowed Chair in Economics

The Frank Gery Endowed Fund in Economics is in honor of the former Professor of Economics, Frank Gery, who served St. Olaf College as chair of what was then the Department of Economics and Business Administration from 1962 until his retirement in 1997. Gery is known to have made great strides in enhancing the curriculum with required courses in calculus, economic theory, and statistics. This fund was established by John W. Pierson ’65, Mark W. Olson ’65, Paul M. Egeland ’65, Jeff Laurel ’65, and Robert N. Barsness ’66 in honor of their 50th class reunion.

Ashley Hodgson is an Associate Professor of Economics. She has taught at St. Olaf since 2011 after completing her Ph.D. in economics at the University of California at Berkeley. Her research focuses on health care systems and blockchain economics. Her graduate school fields include public finance and industrial organization.

Over seven publications feature Ashley’s research, and topics include adverse selection, diffusion of medical innovation, multiple chronic condition patients, hospital closures, nurse staffing and jobless recoveries. Many of these projects have included collaboration and co-authorship with St. Olaf students and faculty in other departments. Ashley is a strong advocate for the importance of interdisciplinary connections in research and teaching, for the purpose of deeper and more creative thinking within our disciplines.

Ashley has recently become interested in blockchain economics, and posts YouTube lectures on blockchain as well as game theory. She believes in creative use of technology inside the classroom and also for research collaboration.