MPA-EPM (PEPM) Faculty Spotlight: Tamrat Gashaw

Tamrat Gashaw joined the Department of Economics at Columbia University in 2018 and has taught Financial Economics, Econometrics, Intermediate Macroeconomics, Fed Challenge Competition Workshop, and a senior seminar course on Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Investing. His current research agenda is also on issues related to ESG investing and banking FDI. He received his PhD in Economics from Western Michigan University in 2012.

How would you describe your teaching style?

My teaching is a mixture of lectures, real-world related assignments/projects, and student-centered content delivery. It largely varies from course to course.

What is the most rewarding aspect of teaching at PEPM?

I think that one of the most rewarding aspects of my class at SIPA is the diversity and real-world experience of my students related to the course content.

What do you enjoy most about your line of work? what is the most challenging element about it?

I enjoy my work because I believe that I am impacting the lives of future generations and sometimes I get emails from my former students confirming the same. The most challenging element of my work is balancing work-life time as I am a father too.

What key experiences from your own professional history do you bring to your course(s)?

I bring a lot of professional experiences to my courses. I was a loan officer at a bank, a market researcher with an export promotion agency, and macroeconomic researcher at the Ethiopian economic association before I joined the teaching profession. In addition, my more than eight years of teaching experience of different economics courses is also a valuable experience to bring more examples that students can relate to. 

How/where do you see the concepts taught in your course(s) being applied by your students?

As far as PEPM Macroeconomics (u6104) is concerned, it has a wide range of application in any international macroeconomics related areas including export-import trades, international portfolio investment, currency trading, economic policy analysis related to exchange rate, balance of payment issues, debt, globalization, currency areas, and so on.

In your opinion, what sets the PEPM program apart from other graduate programs?

I think PEPM is unique in 1) the diversity of the students in the program, 2) diversity of the faculty members at SIPA, and 3) the application-oriented course design.

What advice would you give to current students looking to make an impact in the world of economic policy management?

My advice is that they need to have goals that they want to see themselves achieving in their lives and start working towards them. There will be plenty of failures in between but they should never give up. Keep working towards their goals, reach out for help if needed, and lend a hand to anyone who may need it.

In a rapidly changing world, which skill(s) is(are) critical for every economic policy professional to have?

In addition to the traditional skill sets (i.e., communication, writing, quantitative, and analytical skills), they need to have interpersonal skills as well as the ability to identify significant changes in the world economy and design policy that incorporates these changes.