Dr. Albert Okunade
Professor | George Johnson Fellow in Research
Research Gate Google Scholar
Biography
Albert A. Okunade, PhD, is a Professor of Economics (Full Graduate Faculty) and Senior Research Fellow at the Methodist-LeBonheur Center for Healthcare Economics at The University of Memphis. He has authored and co-authored more than 100 publications, including in high quality economics, accounting and finance journals (e.g., Journal of Applied Econometrics, Journal of Health Economics, Health Economics, Southern Economic Journal, Economic Modelling, Applied Economics, Economics Letters, Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Journal of Productivity Analysis, Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Small Business Economics: an Entrepreneurial Journal, etc.). At the University of Memphis, he has received several meritorious professional academic honors, including: The Willard Sparks Eminent Faculty award (the highest distinction given ‘annually to a single faculty member who has achieved sustained excellence over a long period of years in research, teaching, service & outreach’); Distinguished Research award in Social Sciences, Business & Law; University College Advising award; University Honors Program Fellowship award, Graduate Mentor award; George Johnson Fellow award; First Horizons University Professorship award; Suzanne Downs-Palmer Professorship award (multiple); Superior Performance in University Research award (multiple); Graduate Research Mentoring Excellence award; Graduate Teaching & Research Mentoring Award for Engaged Teaching Excellence award; and several annual ‘Outstanding Papers’ awards for his publications in peer-review journals, etc. Dr. Okunade has also received external professional awards from The African Finance & Economics Association (AFEA), The American Society of Health Economists (ASHEcon), Publons Global Peer Reviews, Outstanding Campus Leaders, Sam Walton Free Enterprise (SIFE), and The FedEx Corporation (Memphis, TN), among others.
Professor Okunade is currently an Associate Editor for Health Economics (a globally
leading peer-refereed academic journal), has served as an Associate Editor of Decision
Sciences (Section on Healthcare Economics & Operations Research) and as the Guest
Editor for ‘Special Issues’ of high-quality peer-refereed academic journals (e.g.,
Journal of Health Care Finance, Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance). He is
currently serving on the Editorial Advisory Board of Business Valuation and Economic
Loss Analysis and is an ad hoc referee for economics and finance manuscripts at broadly
ranged, high-quality scientific journals. He was appointed to the Founding Board of
Trustees of The American Society of Health Economists (ASHEcon) and was elected to
the Board of Directors of the International Health Economics Association (iHEA) and
appointed to the Board of Directors of Christ Community Medical Clinic. Dr. Okunade
served on the Scientific Advisory Committees at major national and international conferences,
has received several internal and external grants, teaches broadly ranged graduate
and undergraduate economics courses in health care and pharmaceutical economics and
public policy, urban, and forecasting, etc. Professor Okunade has served and continues
to serve on major committees, appointed and elected, at the university level, across
Colleges, and in the economics department. He is the immediate past Coordinator of
the economics PhD program (2008-2018) at the University of Memphis where he has so
far chaired 10 PhD. Dissertations and served as committee member on 23 other Dissertations
in Economics (Fogelman College of Business & Economics) and Mathematical Statistics
(College of Arts & Sciences). He is an external evaluator of faculty for tenure and
promotion at major US universities and internationally and was appointed to serve
a one-year term as the 2018-19 Interim Associate Dean for Faculty and Administration,
Fogelman College of Business & Economics, University of Memphis.
Dr. Okunade’s research areas are applied econometrics, healthcare economics and finance,
innovation economics, entrepreneurship, labor economics, and public economics. He
is a member of The American Economic Association (AEA) and has presented papers at
the AEA meetings and other major conferences in Senegal, China, The UK, Finland, Ireland,
and Canada, etc. Citations to his work are broad and interdisciplinary. He has ranked
‘Top 3 nationally’ in research productivity among all Black Ph.D. economists in the
US and was on faculty sabbatical to Harvard University. He has consulted in healthcare
and public economics and has written several Op Eds and quoted in Memphis Business
Journal, The Commercial Appeal, Germantown & Collierville Appeal, and The Tennessean.
He grants interviews to local TV stations.