Announcements.

The results of the Southern Economic Association elections were announced at the Southern Economic Association meeting in New Orleans, LA, in November 2007. The new officers are:

President-Elect: Jonathan Hamilton, University of Florida Vice-President: Arthur Goldsmith, Washington and Lee University (two-year term)

Board of Trustees: David Figlio, University of Florida (four-year term).

The Southern Economic Association Nominating Committee members for the 2007 slate of officers are:

William R. Johnson (Chair), University of Virginia ([e-mail]) Joni Hersch, Vanderbilt University (joni.hersch@ vanderbilt.edu)

Dwight Lee, University of Georgia ([e-mail]).

Georgescu-Roegen Prize in Economics

The annual Georgescu-Roegen Prize in Economics was awarded to Daniel P. McMillen, University of Illinois at Chicago; Paul T. Seaman, University of Dundee; and Larry D. Singell, Jr., University of Oregon, at the Annual Meeting of the Southern Economic Association.

The award is given to the author or authors of the article selected by the prize committee as the best to appear in the Southern Economic Journal in the previous volume year. This year's winner is "A Mismatch Made in Heaven: A Hedonic Analysis of Overeducation and Undereducation" by Daniel P. McMillen, Paul T. Seaman, and Larry D. Singell, Jr. This article appeared in the April 2007 issue, Volume 73, Number 4.

Over the last 20 years, policy makers and researchers have expressed concern over the persistent apparent mismatch between the labor market and the educational system, which has led some 30-40% of workers to be overeducated (educational qualifications in excess of those required for the job) or undereducated (education qualifications less than those required for the job). McMillan, Seaman, and Singell revisit this puzzle in a new and creative way by modeling the dynamics of worker-firm interactions. In their discrete hedonic model, workers can be overeducated when they start in a lower-paying, entry-level job that leads to higher paying positions in the firm in the future for which they are exactly educated. Additionally, workers can be undereducated when they begin a lower paying job for which they are exactly educated but receive on-the-job training and promotion into higher paying jobs later in their career in the firm. The main prediction is that the age-earnings profile for overeducated or undereducated workers is steeper than the profile for exactly educated workers. They test their model with data from the British Household Panel Study, and their results support their predictions. This is the first empirical evidence that over- or under-education can occur in an equilibrium that is beneficial to both workers and firms.

The prize committee also selected a runner-up paper: "Inefficiency in Cadaveric Organ Procurement" by T. Randolph Beard, David L. Kaserman, and Richard Saba (Vol. 73, No. 1, July 2006).

Kenneth G. Elzinga Distinguished Teaching Award

The Southern Economic Association has decided to annually honor one or more faculty members for outstanding contributions to economic instruction on their campus and beyond by conferring upon them the Kenneth G. Elzinga Distinguished Teaching award. The Award was instituted by the Board of Trustees of the Southern Economic Association in the fall of 2002.

Through a letter circulated early in October 2006 from the Board of Trustees of the Southern Economic Association, nominations were solicited from the heads of economics departments from each institution in the southern part of the United States. Nominations were received from universities and colleges that are teaching oriented and from schools that emphasize research. Department heads were encouraged to nominate a member of their department by submitting a letter to the Board spelling out the candidate's special attributes and accomplishments as an economic educator. A committee of the Board reviewed the nominations prior to the annual meeting of the organization in November 2007 and selected one individual to honor.

Dr. Richard J. Cebula's extraordinary teaching efforts, effectiveness, and accomplishments on behalf of students span a period of more than 35 years, including his experience at Ohio University, Emory University, Georgia Tech, and Atlantic Armstrong State University (AASU). He labors long hours with his students. Depending on the class being taught, he uses a combination of traditional classroom lectures, Power-Point presentations, transparencies, written homework assignments, Internet-based assignments, and an always present heavy dose of patience to impart his knowledge. Student responses to his efforts are, to say the least, enthusiastic. For example, in his seven year tenure at AASU, Dr. Cebula's average teaching evaluation is a remarkable 4.95 out of a maximum 5.0.

Dr. Cebula also actively encourages students to pursue original research. He has for several years been the principal organizer of student-only sessions at the domestic meetings of the International Atlantic Economic Society, and manages to induce several AASU undergraduates to present their work each year. Still more impressive is the way that Dr. Cebula involves students in research projects. These efforts have resulted in more than two dozen student-only or joint-authored publications in refereed economics or business journals.

Dr. Cebula has received two Omicron Delta Epsilon teacher of the year awards and an MBA outstanding teacher award. He has also been recognized as Teaching Fellow of the Academy of Economics and Finance. We commend him for his remarkable effort and achievements.

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