Ralph Byrns

Prior to joining the Department of Economics at UNC-Chapel Hill in 2001, Ralph Byrns taught at Rice, Clemson, Metropolitan State College at Denver, the University of Colorado at Denver, the University of Colorado, Boulder, Loyola University of Chicago, Greensboro College, and Duke University. His interests include economic methodology and philosophy, behavioral economics, the sociology of economics as a discipline, and the economics of personal relationships.

Professor Byrns has taught more than two dozen different courses, and he has been honored with multiple teaching awards. He sponsors the Carolina Economics Club and enjoys debating economic issues and talking about possible career paths with students. His Economics text (with Gerald W. Stone, now in a 6th edition) has been used by more than one million students at over 1200 universities since 1981.

Byrns' writings for economic education currently focus on Economicae: an Interactive Encyclopedia for Economics, and he’s seeking a coauthor for an intermediate microeconomics text. A fellow of UNC’s Parr Center for Ethics and named as Core Faculty for the Philosophy, Political Science, and Economics [PPE] Program, Byrns earned a B.S. from Arizona State University (1965), and an M.A. (1972) and Ph.D. (1977) from Rice University. He and his wife, Patricia J. Byrns (M.D. faculty, UNC Medical School) live in Chatham County. He enjoys reading about philosophy, science, and politics, plays golf wretchedly, and won the Institut fur Strategiespiele's "World On-Line Backgammon Championship" tournament on MSN Zone in 2002."

Gardner Hall | Room 102

Department of Economics

University of North Carolina

Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3305

*Hours: MWF 2-3pm or appt.

phone: 919-843-6268

e-mail: rbyrns@unc.edu

emergencies: 919-933-8871

cell: 919-618-9993

web: http://www.unc.edu/~rbyrns/

* Weather permitting, office hours are usually held in front of Gardner Hall.

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