Robert Pearson, a first-year Bellarmine student from Louisville, has been selected for the prestigious Expanding Diversity in Economics (EDE) Summer Institute, to be held June 6-29.
The institute was launched in 2021 by the Becker Friedman Institute for Economics (BFI) at The University of Chicago in collaboration with the Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy at the Brookings Institution.
The 45 participants in the 2024 cohort were selected through a rigorous evaluation process involving nearly 1,000 applications and represent 33 universities across 17 states. They will spend two weeks on the University of Chicago campus followed by one
week in Washington, D.C., hosted by the Hutchins Center.
The EDE program aims to increase diversity in economics through finding and supporting outstanding undergraduates who are interested in the field.
Pearson, who plans to study economics and data science with a minor in math, said he is looking forward to learning more about possible career paths within economics, as well as research methods and tools.
“I'm not sure exactly what career path I hope to have in the future, but I could see myself doing something in research or government,” he said.
At Bellarmine, Pearson is involved with the Center for Community Engagement’s Bonner Leaders Program, whose members work part-time at nonprofit organization off-campus, and also works with the Olmsted Parks Conservancy. His father is Dr. Paul Pearson,
the director and archivist of Bellarmine’s Thomas Merton Center, and his sister, Anne, is a Bellarmine graduate.