Department of Economics

Howard Swyers started with the Department of Economics in May of 2013 as the Fiscal Officer and Department Manager. Prior to his start at Economics, Swyers had been the Fiscal Officer at the Department of Comparative Literature for over five years and has worked at IU for 14 years. He handles the management of department financial accounts, course scheduling, and supervises the department staff. He completed his doctoral degree at Indiana University in voice and has a performance background in both opera and contemporary music. Swyers has performed over 13 opera roles, with roles including Scarpia in the Indiana University Opera Theater production of Tosca, Gulglielmo in Cosi fan tutte, Count Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro, and as the title character in Falstaff. He has performed internationally in locations such as Rome, Italy, Sao Paulo, Brazil, and Chicago. Swyers has performed as a soloist in numerous new music performances under conductors Jon Washburn and Carmen Helena Téllez. Minor fields in his doctoral degree program included music history and music technology. Swyers has an avid interest in technology and is an amateur composer/arranger. He pursued his undergraduate music education at the University of Wisconsin - La Crosse, where he was given the Thomas Annett Award for Outstanding Musician in 1998. He received his master's in voice performance from Indiana University in 2003. Swyers has studied with Terence Kelly at La Crosse and Patricia Stiles at Indiana.