Areas of specialization: Microeconomics and macroeconomics; Cost benefit analysis; Economics of education; Personal finance and economics
Biography
My interest and lessons in economics started at a very young age. My parents were in the spot and forward gold exchange business in Hong Kong. As a kid, my favourite past time was hanging out with the busy and stressed out gold traders in my parents’ offices. My family moved to Toronto in the 1970’s. After graduated from the University of Toronto, I went to the Manchester School in UK to do graduate studies in economics. I was offered a lecturer/administrative job at the University of Waterloo just shortly after I started my doctorate at the University of Toronto. It never occurred to me then that Waterloo would become my permanent home.
I have taught a variety of economics courses at Waterloo. My favourites are Introductory and Intermediate Microeconomics. In addition to teaching big classes, I have continuously served as an administrative personnel in various capacities at Waterloo. I have served as a Faculty of Arts admission officer; a senior academic counselor; a distant education officer; an inter faculty liaison person. I have served close to ten years as an executive member of the Faculty of Arts Examinations and Standings Committee; more than twenty years as the Department of Economics undergraduate chair / undergraduate officer and the departmental academic advisor. Currently, I serve as a member of the board of director with the Waterloo Faculty Association.
Having counseled and taught more than 100,000 Waterloo students in the past thirty years, I have witnessed and heard first hand many heartwarming and success stories. Some of these students have had to endure short term set backs and they have had to overcome hardships. I have learned and gained tremendous respect for our students. In the odd times, a few university rules and regulations may not be able to cover all the special and precarious situations that a student may be trapped in. The University of Waterloo has proven to be both fair and compassionate when it comes to dealing with special cases. As a student advocate, I often take it upon myself to help each deserving student who requested my assistance with their special case.