J. DOUGLASS KLEIN

 

Kenneth B. Sharpe Professor of Economics Emeritus
Director, Kelly Adirondack Center
897 St. David's Lane, Niskayuna 12309
(518) 388-7000

 

 

kleind@union.edu
http://minerva.union.edu/kleind


Citizenship:    U.S.A.

Married, one child.

Education:
                    B.A., Mathematics, Grinnell College, Grinnell, Iowa; 1970
                    M.A., Economics, University of Wisconsin, Madison; 1972
                    Ph.D., Economics, University of Wisconsin, Madison; 1975
                            Dissertation: The Impact of Joint Ventures on Bidding for Offshore Oil
                            Supervisor: Leonard W. Weiss

Present and Previous Positions:

2019- Kenneth B. Sharpe Professor of Economics Emeritus, Union College, Schenectady, NY
2017- Director, Kelly Adirondack Center, Union College
2013-2017 Director, Environmental Science, Policy and Engineering Programs, Union College, Schenectady, NY
2010-2019 Kenneth B. Sharpe Professor of Economics, Union College, Schenectady, NY
2006-2011 Dean of Interdisciplinary Studies & Special Programs, Union College, Schenectady, NY
2002-2006 Director, Center for Converging Technologies, Union College, Schenectady, NY
1999-2006 Associate Dean for Information Technology, Union College, Schenectady, NY
1998-99 Scholar in Residence, Department of Economics, New York University, NY, NY
1997-2010 Professor of Economics, Union College, Schenectady, NY
1993-98 Chair, Department of Economics, Union College, Schenectady, NY
1992-93 Consultant and visiting staff, Department of Economics, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle, England
1985-97 Associate Professor of Economics, Union College, Schenectady, NY
1985-86 Visitor, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Bath, Bath, England
1979-85 Assistant Professor of Economics, Union College, Schenectady, NY
1978-79 Economic Policy Analyst, Program Evaluation Division of the U.S. General Accounting Office, Washington, DC
1977-78 Brookings Institution Economic Policy Fellow
1974-77 Assistant Professor of Economics, The Maxwell School, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY

Grants and Awards:

2016-17 Union-Mellon "Our Shared Humanities" grant for development of a Reacting to the Past game, "Get the Lead Out," to be constructed during ENS 460
2016 Union College "Teaching with Technology" grant to purchase audio tour guide system in support of the New Zealand miniterm (used during power plant tours)
2014 co-recipient with Cherrice Traver of the Sterling Olmsted Award of the Liberal Education/Engineering & Society Division of the American Society of Engineering Education, presented for "distinguished contributions to the development and teaching of liberal arts in engineering education"
2013 Union College Presidential Green Grant, with A.J. Place
2006 National Science Foundation S-STEM grant, "Supporting Scholars in Science and Engineering," co-PI, with C. Traver, PI
1998-99 U.S. Department of Agriculture, "Measuring the Economic Efficiency of Rural Midwestern Counties," with H. Fried
1991 Sloan grant for using experiments in teaching introductory economics; with H. Fried
1990-91 Sloan grant for integration of mathematics and technology into the Liberal Arts curriculum; with S. Schmidt and S. Yaisawarng
1987 Union College Faculty Research Grant
1983 Union College Merit Award for Teaching and Scholarship
1977-78 Brookings Inst. Economic Policy Fellowship
1971-74 Ford Foundation Fellowship
1970-71 Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation Fellowship
1970 Phi Beta Kappa
1970 B.A. with honors
1970 Woodrow Wilson Fellowship
1966 Honorary Grinnell Fellowship

Professional Activities:

Invited participant, Liberal Studies in Engineering - Broadening the Path to the Profession workshop, National Academy of Engineering, Washington, DC. January, 2015.

Program committee and proceedings editor of the Symposium on Engineering & Liberal Education, 2007-08-09; Co-chair, 2010. 2011; Program Committee, 2012-

NSF proposal review panelist, 2007.

Invited participant in NSF-sponsored workshop on Technological Literacy held at the National Academy of Engineering, Washington, DC, April, 2007.

Co-Principle Investigator and Webmaster for "Archiving the WWW" workshop, Union College, 2002-03; funded by Center for Educational Technology and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Seminar leader for the NYU Network Summer 2000 Seminar, "Technological Transformation of the Undergraduate Classroom", sponsored by the NYU Faculty Resource Network, June 2000. 

Invited international expert at "International Trends and Developments in Benchmark Methods and Techniques" sponsored by the Deputy Mayor of the City of Amsterdam, Netherlands, February 19-21, 1998.

Consultant to the State Commission on the Capital Region, 1996-97. Analyzing efficiency of region's provision of public services; with Hal Fried. Produced the report "Best Practice Benchmarks for the Capital Region", June, 1997.

Director, Social Sciences Statistics Laboratory, Union College, 1988-1992, 1993- .

Consultant to the Dept. of Economics, University of Newcastle upon Tyne. Responsible for establishing and coordinating a peer tutoring program for the Department's 25-workstation Novell network.

Referee: Small Business Economics, The Review of Economics and Statistics; The Journal of Economic Education; Journal of Economic Surveys; Southern Economic Journal; Journal of Economics and Business

Consultant, Unocal Corp. Testified on anti- competitive effects of proposed Mesa takeover; 1985.

Consultant, New York State Commission on State and Local Relations. Helped design a data base management system to track aid flows to local governments in New York State; 1983-84.

Consultant, New York State Department of Law, Energy and Utilities Division. Prepared three affidavits and presented expert testimony before the New York State Public Service Commission in a New York Telephone rate case; 1980.

Coauthor, "Closer Controls and Better Data could Improve Antitrust Enforcement," U.S. General Accounting Office, February 29, 1980.

Areas of interest:

Energy and natural resource economics
Interdisciplinary
intersections between engineering and the liberal arts
Effective use of technology in the undergraduate curriculum
Efficiency measurement
Industrial organization; regulation; antitrust
Auctions and experimental economics

Publications:

"Comment: Teaching and Learning Limits in Engineering Education," Engineering Studies, v7, no. 2-3 (2015), 135-137

"Do We Control Technology or Does Technology Control Us," Proceedings of the 2012 Am. Assn. for Engineering Education Annual Conference, San Antonio, TX, June 10-13, 2012.

"Fostering Innovation through the Integration of Engineering and Liberal Education," Proceedings of the 2011 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Vancouver, June, 2011, with Cherrice Traver (Union College), Borjana Mikic (Smith College), Atsushi Akera (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute), Steven B. Shooter (Bucknell University), Ari W. Epstein (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), and David Gillette (California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo).

"Integrating Engineering and the Liberal Arts: A Two Way Street," Proceedings of the 2010 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Louisville, June, 2010; with Cherrice Traver.

"Technology in Context: Integrating Technological 'Literacy' with Science Requirements for Non-Majors," Proceedings of the 2008 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, June 22-25, 2008.  With W. Bernard Carlson, Ronald Miller, Kathryn Neeley, Sarah Pfatteicher, Bruce Seely.

"Engineering, the Liberal Arts and Technological Literacy in Higher Education," IEEE Technology & Society Magazine, Winter 2007. pp 23-28; with Robert T. Balmer.

"Liberal Arts and Technological Literacy," Proceedings of the 2006 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Chicago, June, 2006, with Robert Balmer.

"Flush with Excitement: An Innovative Use of Art and Technology for Education," Proceedings of the 10th Biennial Symposium on Arts & Technology, Ammerman Center for Arts & Technology, Connecticut College, New London, CT, 2006; with Adrienne Klein.

"Licking Disability: Re-flections on the Politics of Postage Stamps," Radical History Review," 94, 2006; with Geoffrey Swan, Teresa Meade, J. and David Serlin.

"Benchmarking the Performance of Rural Communities: A Preliminary Model," The Western Planner, v. 22, no. 8 (December 2001), 5-7; with Harold O. Fried.

"Measuring the Efficiency of U.S. Metropolitan Areas," in Jos L.T. Blank, ed., Public Provision and Performance: Contributions from Efficiency and Productivity Measurement. (Amsterdam: Elsevier-North Holland, 2000), 331-353; with Harold O. Fried. 

Book review: Using People Skills in Training and Development, by Leslie Rae. (London: Kogan Page Limited, 1998). Reviewed for ALT-Journal (The Association of Learning Technology Journal), v. 7, no. 1 (1999), 73-75.

"Best Practice Benchmarks for the Capital Region," report to the State Commission on the Capital Region (June, 1997); with Harold O. Fried.

"Evaluation of Peer Tutors in Facilitating Computer Use in Higher Education," Education Economics, v. 2, no. 3 (1994), 313-326; with Peter Dolton and Ivan Weir.

"The Effects of Sulfur Dioxide Controls on Productivity Change in the U.S. Electric Power Industry," The Review of Economics and Statistics, v. 76, no. 3 (August, 1994), 447-460; with Suthathip Yaisawarng.

Software review: "Data Resources for Economics on CD-ROM," The Economic Journal, v. 103, no. 421 (November, 1993), 183-192.

Abstract: "Environmental Controls and Efficiency in the U.S. Electric Power Industry," Atlantic Economic Journal, v. 21, no. 3 (September, 1993), 81; with Suthathip Yaisawarng.

Software review: "Scientific Word," The Economic Journal, v. 103, no. 418 (May, 1993), 777-782; with Peter Dolton.

"Productivity Changes in the U.S. Electric Power Industry," in David Audretsch and John Siegfried, eds., Empirical Studies in Industrial Organization, in Honor of Leonard W. Weiss (Klewer, 1992); with Shelton Schmidt and Suthathip Yaisawarng.

"The Effectiveness and Stability of Highway Bid-Rigging," in David Audretsch and John Siegfried, eds., Empirical Studies in Industrial Organization, in Honor of Leonard W. Weiss (Klewer, 1992); with Lance Brannman.

Software review: "Bibliographic Resources for Economics on CD-ROM," The Economic Journal, v. 102, no. 413 (July, 1992), 1012-1017.

Book review: "Competition: The Economics of Industrial Change, by Paul Auerbach", Review of Industrial Organization, v. 5, no. 1 (Spring, 1990), 165-169.

"Cooperation and the Per Se Debate: Evidence from the United Kingdom," The Antitrust Bulletin, v. 34, no. 3 (Fall, 1989), 517-532.

"The Price Effects of Increased Competition in Auction Markets," Review of Economics and Statistics, v. 59, no. 1 (February, 1987), 24-32; with Lance Brannman and Leonard W. Weiss. Reprinted as Chapter 5 in Leonard W. Weiss, ed., Concentration and Price, (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1989).

"Order Statistics as Predictors of Winning Bids in Five Types of Auctions," Proceedings of the Eleventh Annual Conference of the European Association for Research in Industrial Economics, v. 2 (Aug. 29-31, 1984), 532-560; with Lance Brannman and Leonard W. Weiss.

"Concentration and Winning Bids in Auctions," The Antitrust Bulletin, v. 29, no. 1 (Spring 1984), 27-31; with Lance Brannman and Leonard W. Weiss.

The Impact of Joint Ventures on Bidding for Offshore Oil, Outstanding Dissertations in Economics series (New York: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1983).

"The Problem of Joint Ventures in Bidding for Offshore Oil," in Y. Amihud, ed., Bidding and Auctioning for Procurement and Allocation, (New York: New York University Press, 1976).

Articles on "Public Utility" and "Monopoly" for the Encyclopedia Americana. (New York: Grolier, Inc., 1976, 1977).

Working Papers and Presentations

"Integrating Engineering and Liberal Education in a Required Research Seminar", poster presented at the 5th Symposium on Engineering & Liberal Education, Union College in Schenectady, NY, June 1-3, 2012. With C. Traver, Union College.

"Engineering, Entrepreneurship, Environment, and Ethics in the Classics Curriculum," panel presentation at the Classical Association of the Atlantic States, October 9, 2010, with Randall Childree, Kristen Gentile, Hans-Friedrich Mueller, Stacie Raucci, Cherrice Traver, and Tarik Wareh, all Union College.

Panel: "Engineering & Liberal Education," American Association of Colleges & Universities, 2010 Annual Meeting, January 20-23, 2010; with Andrew Guswa, John Krupczak, Jenn Stroud Rossman, and Cherrice Traver.

Special Session: "Inventive Courses:  Blending Engineering and the Liberal Arts," Frontiers in Education, October 18-21, 2009.  With Sharon Jones, Stacie Raucci, and Cherrice Traver

Panel: Historical Visions: Enhancing Engineering Education through the History of Technology, "Anticipating Unintended Consequences: Learning to Engineer in a Social and Historical Context," Frontiers In Education Annual Conference, October 23, 2008; with Atsushi Akera, David Hemmendinger, Frederik Nebeker, Aristotle Tympas.

Panel - "The Technological Literacy of Undergraduates: Developing Standard Models," Frontiers in Education, October 2007, with John J. Krupczak, Jr., David Ollis, W. Bernard Carlson, J. Douglass Klein, Kathryn Neeley, W. Grant Norton, Barbara Oakley, Russell Pimmel, Greg Pearson, James F. Young.

"Attracting And Retaining the Creative Class in Tech Valley," presented at the Second Annual Tech Valley Engineering Symposium, 2006

"What does the Creative Class Mean to the Capital Region?" presented at the Schenectady Museum symposium High Voltage Fields, 2005

"Nanotech and Society", presented to the Society of Black and Hispanic Engineers, Union College, April 22, 2003.

"Educating for Tech Valley," presented to the Tech Valley BOCES Career Centers meeting, March 22, 2003.

"Confronting Distance Education," keynote address at the Technology, Pedagogy and Course Redesign Conference, Fairfield University, June 17, 2001. 

"Teaching and Learning With Technology Today," presented to the Schenectady Area Union Alumni Association, November, 2000.

"Site of the Week", created for the Office of Curricular Design at Union College, 1999.

"Teaching Economic History with Online Primary Sources", presented at Syllabus99 Conference, Santa Clara, California, July, 1999.  (Revised version.)

"Effects of Competition on Efficiency in the U.S. Electric Power Industry," presented at the Third Georgia Productivity Conference, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, October, 1998; with David Kunselman.

"Evaluating and Enhancing the Performance of a Region: An Application tot he Capital Region of New York State," with Harold O. Fried. Presented at the European Productivity Conference, Copenhagen, October, 1997 and the Eastern Economics Association Meetings, New York, February, 1998.

"Market Structure, Market Size, and Hospital Efficiency", presented at the American Economic Society meetings, Williamsburg, VA (October, 1995) and the Southern Economics Association meetings in New Orleans, LA (November, 1995), with Paul Foshee.

"Measuring Relative Regulatory Compliance in the Automobile Industry," presented at the Southern Economics Association meetings, Orlando, Florida (November, 1994).

"Plant-Specific Shadow Prices for Sulfur Dioxide in the U.S. Electric Power Industry," presented at the Southern Economics Association Meetings, Nashville, TN (November, 1991), and the Conference on Current Issues in Productivity, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey (December, 1991); revised and presented at the Atlantic Economics Association Meetings, Montreal, Canada (October, 1994); with Suthathip Yaisawarng.

"The Effects of Environmental Controls on Productive and Scale Efficiency in the U.S. Electric Power Industry," presented at the Atlantic Economic Society International Meetings, April 10, 1993, Brussels, Belgium; with S. Yaisawarng.

"Avoiding the Winner's Curse: Are Bidders Rational" Union College Working Paper.

Courses Taught:

MIN 203: Climate Change: Knowledge Empowers Action (team taught online course)
ISP 346T: Peopled Wilderness: Experiencing the Adirondacks (team taught 3 week miniterm)
TAB 333T: New Zealand Miniterm: Electric Power and Resource Management in New Zealand
ENS 460: ESPE Capstone seminar; Get the Lead Out: Drinking Water and Environmental Justice

Economics 241: Intermediate Microeconomic Theory
Economics 233: American Industry and Public Policy
Sophomore/Scholars Research Seminar: Research to Improve Union's Energy Efficiency
First-Year Preceptorial: Do We Control Technology or Does Technology Control Us?
Economics 230: The Mind of the Entrepreneur (team taught)

IDM 102: Technology, Culture and Society (team taught)
Introduction to Digital Images
(short course for Office of Curricular Design)
Economics 101: Introductory Economics
Economics 224: Competing Philosophies in U.S. Economic Policy (Am-C; W-1 for the General Education curriculum)
Economics 325: Efficiency Management of Technology
Economics 498-499: Senior Thesis
Organizing Theme 498-499: Senior Project

College Service:

Chair, endowed Kenney Environmental Engineering faculty search committee, 2016-17
PI, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation grant in support of Environmental Science, Policy and Engineering (ESPE) at Union College, 2013-2014
Engaging Evidence: Improving Student Learning Through a Plan of Study steering committee (funded by Teagle Foundation)
Our Shared Humanities working committee (funded by Andrew W. Mellon Foundation)
Co-organizer of the 3rd Union College Alumni Symposium, "Smart Grid," April 9-11, 2010

Chair, Peter Irving Wold Center building steering committee, 2008-2011
Chair, Vice President for Admissions, Financial Aid and Enrollment search committee, 2008
General Education Board, ex officio, 2006, Chair, 2007-2011
Wold Professor of Religious Studies search committee, ex officio, 2006-07
Co-chair, Science, Engineering & CT Facilities Planning Committee, 2004-2008

Panel moderator, "Converging Technologies at Union College," March 8, 2002
Creator and webmaster for the Advisor's Advisor web site at Union College; 1999-2012
Chair, Academic Computing Steering Committee, 2000-2006
Project Director, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Grant, "Using Technology to Enable Interdisciplinary & Team-Taught Courses," 1997-2001
Phi Beta Kappa, Alpha of New York Chapter, President, 1995-1998
Social Science Statistics Lab Director, 1988-92, 1993-2007
Watson Fellowship Selection Committee, 1980-85, Chair 1987-92, 1993-95, 2013-
F. W. Olin Building Program Committee, 1995-1998
Technology and the Liberal Arts Subcommittee of Planning and Priorities, 1995-1998
GE Engineering Curriculum Grant Steering Committee, 1993-1995
Academic Affairs Council, Subcouncil on Academic Computing, 1988-92, 1993-; Chair, 1997-2000
Planning Committee on Electronic Learning Resources, 1992-1994
Math-Science-Engineering resource room committee, 1995
Union Committee on Teaching, presenter, 1994, 1999
Admissions Liaison Committee, 1991-96 , Chair, 1991-92
Daycare Center Building Planning Committee, 1994
Social Sciences Instructional Technology Liaison, 1991-92
Acting Chair, Economics Department, 1990 (two terms)
Student Affairs Council, 1987-90, Chair 1988-90
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Grant for the New Liberal Arts Advisory Committee, 1986-92

Other Service:

Adirondack Research Consortium Board, 2018-
Dudley Observatory Board of Trustees, 2008-; Finance Committee, 2010-
Technology Council, Center for Economic Growth, 2007-2009
Science and Technology Advisory Board, the Schenectady Museum and Suites-Bueche Planetarium, 2006-2009
Advisory Board of the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Schenectady County, 2005-2008
Committee on Meeting Essential Needs of United Way of Schenectady County, 2005-2006


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