Economics major Jacob Geary presents at national conference

Economics major Jacob Geary was one of 28 undergraduate students from across the globe who was selected to present at the 46th meeting of the Association for Private Enterprise Education (APEE) in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Geary came to Salve Regina as a business administration major but switched to economics because he was enjoying the classes. Presenting at a conference was an experience that might never have happened without his professors – especially Dr. Adam Witham, assistant professor in the Department of Business and Economics.

“One day after class, I went up to Dr. Witham and expressed my interest in going to grad school for economics,” Geary said. “He said, ‘If you’re interested in grad school, this conference should be a nice place to go, because you can see what it’s like, you can meet with other people that have done it and directors of graduate school programs.'”

Geary’s paper, “The Reality of the American Dream,” discussed wealth in America and how the growing income inequality of the last 50 years has made it more difficult to achieve the quintessential American dream.

“I created an economic model that tracked it over time and made it easier to understand from an economic standpoint how the reality and the lives of most Americans are changing over the last 50 years,” he said.

Geary also presented his paper to a room full of conference attendees from around the country. During the conference, he was able to network with other undergraduate students, as well as professionals in the field of economics and representatives from graduate schools.

“It was a great experience, just getting to meet all the people who have been doing the thing that I’m considering doing,” Geary said.