December 6, 2025

EagleEye

A Newsletter for UMW Faculty and Staff

Dhar and UMW Featured by Virginia Council on Economic Education

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Associate Professor of Economics Amrita Dhar

Associate Professor of Economics Amrita Dhar

Associate Professor of Economics Amrita Dhar and UMW’s Center for Economic Education were featured in a piece by the Virginia Council on Economic Education titled, “From the University to the Classroom: UMW’s Dr. Amrita Dhar Strengthens Economic Education Partnerships Across the Region.”

The feature details how Dhar is leading UMW’s Center for Economic Education in its efforts to reach schools and educators across the Greater Fredericksburg region. The Center is part of the Virginia Council on Economic Education’s statewide network, which is dedicated to incorporating real-world economics and personal finance literacy into K-12 education. Dhar collaborates with superintendents, principals and teachers across Virginia to integrate the Center’s programs and initiatives into classrooms, helping students gain the knowledge and skills needed to navigate today’s economy. Dhar also shared expertise at the 2025 Financial Foundations Conference: A Personal Finance Conference for Educators, where she discussed the evolution of money — from early barter systems to modern digital currencies like Bitcoin — and demonstrated how these topics can be effectively integrated into classroom instruction. Read more.

Dhar Featured in Free Lance-Star for Expanding UMW’s Financial Literacy Outreach

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Associate Professor of Economics Amrita Dhar

Associate Professor of Economics Amrita Dhar

Associate Professor of Economics Amrita Dhar was featured in The Free Lance-Star in an article titled “UMW brings financial lessons to schools.” The story highlights Dhar’s leadership as director of the University of Mary Washington’s Center for Economic Education, which is expanding its reach across the Fredericksburg region.

Dhar collaborates with superintendents, principals and teachers in more than 10 localities, connecting them with professional development programs, classroom resources and statewide initiatives that promote real-world economic and financial literacy. At the 2025 Financial Foundations Conference, she presented “From Barter to Bitcoin,” guiding educators through the evolution of currency and offering strategies to teach topics like cryptocurrency in K–12 classrooms. Read the article from The Free Lance-Star.

Dhar Comments on Virginia’s Rising Unemployment Rate for Channel 8 News

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Associate Professor of Economics Amrita Dhar

Associate Professor of Economics Amrita Dhar

Associate Professor of Economics Amrita Dhar offered insight into Virginia’s rising unemployment rate in a recent interview with Channel 8 News, featured on MSN. “Is it a permanent move or temporary? That is something we have to keep an eye out for,” Dhar said, noting that more information is needed to determine the reason behind the increase. Read the full story.

Dhar Comments on Unemployment Rate for WRIC and WHJL

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Associate Professor of Economics Amrita Dhar

Associate Professor of Economics Amrita Dhar

Associate Professor of Economics Amrita Dhar commented on Virginia’s unemployment rate for WRIC and WJHL in an article titled “Virginia’s unemployment rate is up, economist says more information needed as to why.”

In the piece, Dhar said “Is it a permanent move or a temporary? That is something we have to keep an eye for. Compared to the national average, we are still doing fine, but compared to Virginia’s standards, yes, we are moving away from the average.” Read more in WRIC and WJHL.

Dhar Attends NAEE Conference in Philadelphia

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Professor of Economics Amrita Dhar in Philadelphia at the NAEE Spring Conference

Associate Professor of Economics Amrita Dhar in Philadelphia at the NAEE Spring Conference

Associate Professor of Economics Amrita Dhar attended the National Association of Economic Educators (NAEE) Spring Conference 2025 at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, where she connected with fellow economic education leaders, shared best practices, and explored innovative strategies to enhance economics and financial literacy in K-12 education.

As the Director of the UMW Center for Economic Education, Dhar is committed to bringing new insights and resources to local K-12 educators, empowering students with the knowledge they need for financial success. She is grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with passionate professionals dedicated to strengthening economic education.

Dhar Accompanies Students to Lead Conference in Dallas

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Dr.Dhar, Peter Lermo, and Jarad Ponce at the Dallas bank

Dr.Dhar, Peter Lermo, and Jarad Ponce at the Dallas bank

This October Associate Professor of Economics Amrita Dhar, and students Jarad Ponce and Peter Lermo, traveled to Dallas, Texas. They attended the 17th Annual Economic Scholars Program Conference for Undergraduate Research at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.

Economics major Jarad Ponce presented “The Sidewalk Effect: A study on the demand for homes in Fredericksburg, VA.” He looked at the relationship between two Fredericksburg neighborhoods and the effect that having uniform sidewalks had on the housing prices. He found at the .1% Significance level that sidewalks had a positive 8% effect on the housing prices. “My experience at the conference pleasantly developed a great sense of accomplishment and belonging amongst my peers.” – Jarad Ponce

Economics major Peter Lermo presented “Income and Opioid Overdoses.” Lermo used panel data from 2014-2020 and conducted two regression models. The first model is where state had fixed effects and the second model is where state and year had fixed effects. The first model found that income had a positive effect on overdoses to where for every 1% increase in income, overdoses increased by .7396 per 100,000 people. In the second model income also had a positive effect and for every 1% increase in income, overdoses would increase by .1351 per 100,000 people. Lermo came up with the topic because of the rapid increase in synthetic opioid overdoses that have occurred over the past decade.

Lee, Dhar Present at Southern Economic Association Conference

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Dr. Don Lee and Dr. Amrita Dhar presenting their paper together at the 93rd annual SEA Conference.

Dr. Don Lee and Dr. Amrita Dhar presenting their paper together at the 93rd annual SEA Conference.

The Southern Economic Association had their 93rd annual conference this year in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Southern Economic Association is a global professional organization that wants to help further the education of scholars and the public. The three-day conference allows for a multitude of topics to be explained and discussed. UMW’s Economics program was showcased by Associate Professors of Economics Donghyun Lee and Amrita Dhar. 

Lee and Dhar presented “Cross-Border Mergers and Acquisitions, Cultural Distance and Growth: Industry-level Analysis.” While there has been significant research done to explore the cultural distance as a determinant of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), studies on the effect of FDI on growth and the role of cultural distance at the sector level are scant in the literature. In this paper, Lee and Dhar empirically examine the role of cultural distance on the effect of FDI on growth using values system data from the World Values Survey (WVS) and worldwide mergers and acquisitions (M&A) data at industry level from 1986-2012. They examine the effect of FDI on growth at sector-level and the role cultural distance plays in different sectors. 

Dr. Amrita Dhar also presented “Central Bank Communications and International Capital Flows,” co-authored with Dr. Zach McGurk. The focus of the paper is using a novel approach of text mining techniques to estimate central bank sentiment, and its subsequent impact on international capital flows.

Economics Students Attend Conference in Texas

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Students attending the 16th Annual Economics Scholars Program Conference for Undergraduate Research at the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank. Top Row (left to right): Dillon Durocher, Matthew McGlynn, Shane Sutton, Peter Smith, Jason Mueller; Middle: Dr. Amrita Dhar; Front Row (left to right): Paige Harrington, Tara Fitzgerald, Dana Smith

Students attending the 16th Annual Economics Scholars Program Conference for Undergraduate Research at the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank. Top Row (left to right): Dillon Durocher, Matthew McGlynn, Shane Sutton, Peter Smith, Jason Mueller; Middle: Dr. Amrita Dhar; Front Row (left to right): Paige Harrington, Tara Fitzgerald, Dana Smith

On October 21st, a group of eight students from the Economics department, Dillon Durocher, Tara Fitzgerald, Paige Harrington, Matthew McGlynn, Jason Mueller, Dana Smith, Peter Smith, and Shane Stutton with Dr. Amrita Dhar, Associate Professor of Economics at UMW, attended the 16th Annual Economics Scholars Program Conference for Undergraduate Research at the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank. It is one of the largest undergraduate conference nation-wide with a strict criteria for selection of research papers.

The students presented their research work and served as discussants and peer reviewers for other research papers. This was all of the students’ first time presenting research to peers outside of UMW. “The conference was a good introduction to the world of professional research in a friendly and low pressure environment,” Dillion says.

In addition to presenting and getting feedback, the conference also allowed students to interact and network with undergraduates at universities all across the southern United States. Paige says, “I really enjoyed the conference! It was so nice to meet people who were also passionate about economics.” Agreeing with this, Jason says, “The Dallas conference was a great way to connect with peers in economics to see what they care about and why.”

Due to the wide array of schools present and the vastness of the field of economics, the topics presented at the conference covered a large assortment of topics, expanding the knowledge of the students. “The Dallas conference was a great experience as an undergraduate to expand my research interests and gain new insights from other economics majors,” Tara says. Overall, the students loved attending the conference and learned valuable research and networking skills they will use both at Mary Washington and after they graduate.

These students are enrolled in Econ 490E: Independent Research class with Dr. Dhar.