Five Questions with Rob Szarka
In our Five Questions series, faculty of the University of Kansas School of Business share their insights, experiences and advice for students.
Rob Szarka is an assistant teaching professor with the Brandmeyer Center for Applied Economics. He received his bachelor’s in economics from Eastern Connecticut State and his master’s and doctorate in economics from the University of Connecticut.
Szarka’s research interests include the causes and consequences of regulation and the relationship between economic freedom and civil liberties. His research has been published in Journal of Economics Teaching and Journal of Private Enterprise.
What got you interested in your field, and what is the most rewarding part of being involved in it?
Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations was mentioned in my high school history class, so I bought an abridged copy and found it very interesting. I’d also learned a bit of game theory by then, but I didn’t understand yet that it was part of economics. So, it was only once I picked up a friend’s Principles of Economics textbook and started reading that I realized economics was the right major for me. Decades later, economics still fascinates me, because it’s the study of how humans act in the world — and humans are very interesting creatures!
What is your favorite part about being a Jayhawk?
This is my first year, and I don’t think I’ll be able to answer this question properly until I’ve had a chance to attend a women’s basketball game, get out dancing, and hear some local bands. But everyone here — faculty and students — has been very welcoming, so I’m looking forward to experiencing life in Lawrence post-vaccine.
What would you see yourself doing if you weren’t a professor?
Before returning to grad school, I was self-employed as a small business owner in the Internet access and web hosting industries, so no doubt I would return to being a full-time geek. Maybe I’d finally find time to write that sci-fi novel I’m always thinking about, too.
What advice would you give your college self?
I’d tell myself to study more math and learn some accounting. The latter, especially, would have come in handy when I started my first business! Also to take up dancing in college, instead of waiting until my 30s.
If you could require students to read one thing before graduation (outside of your class reading), what would it be and why?
I would like them to read the poetry of my late friend Nizametdin Akhmetov, who was a prisoner of conscience in a Soviet psychiatric “hospital” for most of his adult life. Unfortunately, very little is available in English. So, instead, I would share a copy of a letter that he smuggled out while still a prisoner. As Santayana said: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” It’s hard for me to believe, but my students have never known a world with a Soviet Union.
By Meaghan Boyd
