Economics Professor Walter Enders Selected for UA’s Prestigious Blackmon-Moody Award

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Dr. Walter Enders, professor of economics and Lee Bidgood Chair of Economics and Finance, has been selected as the 2004 recipient of The University of Alabama’s Frederick Moody Blackmon-Sarah McCorkle Moody Outstanding Professor Award.

The award is presented annually to a University of Alabama faculty member who is judged by a selection committee to have made extraordinary contributions that reflect credit on the individual, on his or her field of study, on students and on the University.

The Blackmon-Moody Award is one of the highest honors bestowed on faculty at the University. Created by Frederick Moody Blackmon of Montgomery to honor the memory of his grandmother, Sarah McCorkle Moody of Tuscaloosa, the award is given annually to a UA faculty member who has made an extraordinary contribution to his or her profession.

The award recipient is selected by UA President Robert E. Witt and a committee that reviews faculty nominations made by academic departments.

“In this day and time, when the world is faced with the ever increasing threat of terrorism at home and abroad, contributions from academia that help protect against terrorism are crucial. Dr. Enders’ work in this area has brought prestige and recognition to the University, but more importantly, has helped make the world a safer place,” Witt said.

Dr. J. Barry Mason, dean of the UA College of Commerce and Business Administration, said he is pleased that Enders received this recognition from the University.

“Walter Enders has brought a tremendous amount of recognition to the College through his hard work and dedication in an area that is crucial to the safety of the nation and the world,” said Mason. “I cannot think of anyone more deserving of this award.”

Last year, the National Academy of Sciences named Enders a co-recipient of its 2003 Award for Behavioral Research Relevant to the Prevention of Nuclear War. The other co-recipient, Dr. Todd Sandler, is the Robert R. and Kathryn A. Dockson Professor of International Relations and Economics at the University of Southern California.

The National Academy of Sciences’ award is a prize of $20,000 presented every three years for basic research in any field of cognitive or behavioral science that advances understanding of issues relating to the risk of nuclear war.

Enders and Sandler were chosen “for their joint work on transnational terrorism using game theory and time series analysis to document the cyclic and shifting nature of terrorist attacks in response to defensive counteractions,” according to the announcement by the National Academy of Sciences.

Enders earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Toledo and a master’s degree and doctorate from Columbia University. He has published numerous research articles in such journals as the Review of Economics and Statistics, Quarterly Journal of Economics, and the Journal of International Economics.

Enders has also published articles in the American Economic Review (a journal of the American Economic Association), the Journal of Business and Economic Statistics (a journal of the American Statistical Association), and the American Political Science Review (a journal of the American Political Science Association).

Enders’ “Applied Econometric Time-Series” is the leading book in the field. He has formal editorial responsibilities for three different journals in the area of international economics and has served as a policy adviser to Ukraine.