Dr. Rodney Andrews
- Former Associate Professor of Economics
- Vibhooti Shukla Professor of Economics and Political Economy (Former)
The professorship was established by Satchit Srinivasan in memory of his wife, a political economy professor who taught at UT Dallas from 1987 to 1992. The endowment is intended to advance the research of an outstanding scholar in the fields of economics and/or political economy.
“I am both honored and grateful to be appointed Fellow, Vibhooti Shukla Professor of Economics and Political Economy. My colleagues and I focus on relevant educational issues and work to make our results broadly available. This funding serves to support the infrastructure needed to produce that work. Funding also allows us to support and mentor graduate students, who assist with our research and simultaneously develop both their own skills and research agendas.”I am both honored and grateful to be appointed Fellow, Vibhooti Shukla Professor of Economics and Political Economy. My colleagues and I focus on relevant educational issues and work to make our results broadly available. This funding serves to support the infrastructure needed to produce that work. Funding also allows us to support and mentor graduate students, who assist with our research and simultaneously develop both their own skills and research agendas.”
Dr. Rodney Andrews was an expert on the economics of education and, more specifically, the topics of college paths, returns on investment to higher education, and how that relates to the quality of an institution, as well as prekindergarten effects on student achievement. He died May 12, 2023, at the age of 47.
Andrews investigated a range of topics, including health policy, public finance and labor economics. His later focus was on the economics of education, particularly with issues of access and success in higher education.
Andrews also investigated the effect of postsecondary programs and policies that target students from underrepresented groups and geographic areas on access, academic performance and labor-market outcomes.
Andrews was research director of the Texas Schools Project, which supports and conducts academic research to improve academic achievement and teacher effectiveness, to increase transitions to and success in postsecondary education, and to improve labor market outcomes of students in Texas and the nation. Andrews served as director from 2011 to 2015.
Widely recognized in his field, Andrews was co-editor of Economics of Education Review, was on the editorial board of Education Finance and Policy and was a faculty research fellow at the nonprofit National Bureau of Economic Research.
Andrews received 21 grants totaling $1.9 million as a principal investigator at UT Dallas. His scholarly work was supported by the Laura and John Arnold Foundation (now Arnold Ventures), the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Greater Texas Foundation, the Smith Richardson Foundation and the Russell Sage Foundation.
Andrews received his Master of Arts and PhD in economics from the University of Michigan and earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from the Georgia Institute of Technology. From 2007 to 2009, he was a Robert Wood Johnson Scholar in Health Policy Research at Harvard University. He joined the UT Dallas faculty in 2009.