This fall CBE is excited to welcome new faculty to our ranks. Get to know our newest professors.
Delina Agnosteva
Assistant Professor
Department of Economics
Education
Ph.D., Economics, Drexel University
B.A., Economics; International Business (Dual Major), Ramapo College,
Research Interests
Broadly, my research interests lie at the intersection of international trade and industrial organization. More specifically, my work focuses on the effects of multi-market collusion on trade and welfare, the gravity model of trade, and the estimation and implications of intra-national and inter-national trade costs.
How do you approach your role as a professor?
I view teaching as a privilege. It is exciting, challenging, unpredictable, and so rewarding! At the end of the semester, if I have even one student tell me that he/she is switching to an Econ major because of my class or that he/she has a new-found appreciation for Economics, I know that I have done something right. I also believe that we teachers have responsibilities greater than simply providing our students with the fundamental knowledge of the subject. We need to be their mentors, their role-models in a professional environment, their confidantes, if necessary. And I am really looking forward to all of this!
Who is someone you admire?
All my life, I have looked up to my mother the most. She has been the person to push me further, to motivate me, to give me a direction (especially, early on). Now, career-wise, I admire both of my (former?) advisors – Constantinos Syropoulos and Yoto Yotov – for their dedication to research and teaching and to our profession, in general. These people absolutely love the research they are doing and I have seen firsthand how hard they work to achieve quality publications. They are also dedicated to their students and would go above and beyond to help them. I think both of them have had a great impact on my personal and professional development as a research and as a teacher.
What’s something few people know about you that might be surprising to some?
As I kid, whenever I stayed at my grandparents’ house, every evening we had to go (I demanded that) to the nearby river so that I could see some frogs. And since then, I am a fan of frogs (but I do not have any at home. I am not that crazy J).
How do you spend your free time?
Nowadays, I spend my free time with my one-year-old son and with my husband. We love to travel (this summer we did a road-trip along route 1 in California from San Diego to San Francisco, then we went back to our home country, Bulgaria, and then we visited Prague for a few days). We also love to hike (nothing hard-core, though). And we love to eat (lately, our guilty pleasure has been the Cajun fries from Five Guys J). I also love to read, but I have been stuck on Anna Karenina for a month now. I have been able to read only a couple of pages per night before I pass out and it will probably take me a while to finish it.
What is your favorite TV show?
The Wire is my all-time favorite! Next on the list: Game of Thrones, The Sopranos, Friends, Grey’s Anatomy.
What are you most looking forward to this semester?
I am looking forward to settling into my new role as an Assistant Professor. I do not think I have mentally fully transitioned from being a PhD student to an actual tenure-track professor yet and I believe once the semester begins and I get into my routine, I will get there quickly. I am really excited to get to know my fellow colleagues (faculty and staff) better, to meet my new students and to have more interactions with them.