Hello! I am Dr. Pareena Lawrence. I came to the University of Minnesota, Morris (UMM) in the Fall of 1994 as an Assistant Professor of Economics and Management and was promoted and tenured as Associate Professor in the Fall of 2000.

I earned my Masters Degree and Ph.D. degree in Economics from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana in December of 1993. My research interests lie in the area of household economics, gender roles and economic development.

I was born in New Delhi, India. Growing up in India was a wonderful experience as one could see the duality in society everyday, that one can only read about in textbooks in the West. It was there that I learnt about gendered society and of the determination to break the mold. I grew up observing social institutions that were entrenched into the cultural fabric of society that needed to be changed so that the residents of India could improve their standards of living. I saw markets fail because of lack of institutions, be it infrastructure, banking, transportation or the justice system. It was growing up in such a complex environment that ignited my interest in the field of Economics.

Today I live in Morris, MN, with my husband Todd and our two children, Aaron and Joshua who are seven and four years old respectively. Todd is a Raymond James Financial Investment Representative in Glenwood, MN, a small town approximately 30 miles east of Morris.

We have no pets. A few years ago we laid claim to two goldfish that died after sharing two years of their lives with us. And since I am yet to miss them, a pet in the near future much to the dismay of my kids looks highly unlikely.

I love to run. I am not very fast but I can normally run 3 miles in 28 minutes. Recently, I have taken up biking. I bought myself a Trek bike after being inspired by Lance Armstrong. Figured, I obviously couldn’t get remotely close to his skills with biking, but I sure could be attired like him J and look cool in the process!

I love teaching economics. I absolutely delight when students can connect with the subject matter of economics and finally understand what it is that we are trying to explain or model and how often it is the assumptions one makes that leads to the outcome of the model. Economics is an exciting and evolving field and I would encourage you to take atleast one class in Economics, you might get hooked!

One of my favorite quotes: We all have ability. The difference is how we use it. Wonder, Stevie: 1950-, American Musician, Singer