Ryan Blake Williams , Ph.D. Graduated in 2009 with a doctorate in Economics

I earned my doctorate from the Department of Economics at Texas Tech University after completing most of my graduate coursework at North Carolina State University. As a student, my primary research interest was non-market valuation and groundwater resources. While pursuing a research career was my primary objective, I look back fondly on the weekly workshops offered by the department for those of us engaged in teaching. I learned many skills from the other students and faculty mentors that I have carried with me throughout my career.

Upon graduation I was employed as a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Economics at Texas Tech University. I appreciated the opportunity to continue working with the faculty that had supported me through my dissertation and having continued interactions with the same great undergraduate and graduate students I had the privilege to know. In 2011 I began as Assistant Professor in the Department of Agricultural & Applied Economics, began a joint appointment with Texas A&M AgriLife Research in 2015, and moved to Amarillo to my current position in 2020. 

I am an applied microeconomist and view myself as a generalist with depth in the areas of the environment and natural resources, production, energy, consumer behavior, and applied econometrics. 

I owe a debt of gratitude to the department for the opportunities provided me, particularly as an instructor, while a graduate student. Being named one of the university’s Integrated Scholars in 2019 is a direct reflection of the guidance I was provided in becoming an effective instructor of economics. Wreck ‘Em, Tech!