KU News Release

KU business professor awarded Koch professorship

LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas School of Business has named Koleman Strumpf to the Koch Professorship in Business Economics.

Strumpf, professor of economics, joined the school this semester. He came to KU after teaching and researching at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

“I am excited to be joining the KU School of Business and delighted to be named to the Koch professorship. It’s a great honor,” Strumpf said. “I hope to continue the KU tradition of classroom excellence and to contribute to the dialogue on important economic issues across the state and beyond.”

The professorship was established in 2004 with a $600,000 donation from the Fred C. and Mary R. Koch Foundation. The gift has special meaning because Mary Robinson Koch’s grandfather, David Hamilton Robinson, was one of the original three tenured faculty members at KU.

The purpose of the Koch professorship is to create greater understanding of economics among citizens through educational training and workshops, and to develop high-quality economic research. According to Charles Koch, chairman and chief executive officer of Koch Industries Inc., “A critical aspect of a productive, entrepreneurial society is an understanding among all citizens, not just businesspeople, of fundamental principles of economics. This gift from the Fred C. and Mary R. Koch Foundation enables KU’s School of Business to make important contributions toward this goal.”

Strumpf's research has been well-publicized in the national media. With timely research topics such as the effect of file sharing on music and movie sales, his work has been published in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Economist, Business Week and USA Today. He has also made appearances on ABC news, “Nightline,” CNN and CNBC.

Strumpf’s primary research focuses on applied, public and political economics. He was a visiting professor at the University of Chicago and the Cato Institute. Through his research, Strumpf has garnered grants from the National Institutes of Health, one of the foremost medical research centers, and USAID, an independent federal government agency.

Strumpf earned his doctoral degree in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1995. He joined the University of North Carolina faculty as an assistant professor that same year and was a full professor before coming to KU. Strumpf received a bachelor’s with honors in biology and a bachelor’s with honors and distinction in economics from Stanford University in 1990.

-30-

The University of Kansas is a major comprehensive research and teaching university. University Relations is the central public relations office for KU's Lawrence campus.