{1950s}

Alexander J. Kondonassis, M.A., ’53, Ph.D., ’61, joined the University of Oklahoma in 1958. At Oklahoma, he served as chairman of the Department of Economics from 1961 to 1971 and as director of the Division of Economics of the University of Oklahoma from 1979 to 1986. Additionally, he has lectured in many countries and programs in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America. In 1965–66 he was a Fulbright senior lecturer at the Athens School of Economics and Business Science in Athens, Greece. In 1979 he lectured at Oxford University in England and in 1986 he served as a lecturer for the American Participant Program, in Iceland, Greece, and Yugoslavia. He has directed more than 50 doctoral dissertations. Many of the recipients of these Ph.D. degrees have attained national and international recognition. Kondonassis has published 80 books, monographs, and articles and has presented more than 85 professional papers in economics meeting in the U.S.A. and abroad. His research focus includes the economic development of the less developed countries and economic integration movements, with special emphasis on the European Economic Community. He has received countless academic and professional awards during his career, and is listed in Who’s Who in America, Outstanding Educators of America, and Who’s Who in the World. He was inducted into the Oklahoma Higher Education Hall of Fame in 1998.

{1980s}

Timothy J. Riffle, B.A., ’80, J.D., ’83, has retired from the law firm Barnes & Thornburg, where he had spent his entire legal career. Nicknamed “the professor” by his colleagues, Riffle offered nearly encyclopedic knowledge of federal tax law. With more than three decades of practice advising on the tax challenges associated with all phases of the business life cycle, he guided clients through complex tax matters, providing solutions that help maximize tax savings while minimizing the potential for controversy. He also represented individuals and families in the areas of charitable giving, foundations, and gift and estate taxation, and universities, hospitals, museums and other non-profit organizations in tax exemption and unrelated business income tax matters. A former member of the Maurer School of Law Alumni Board, Riffle received the Maurer School of Law Distinguished Service Award in 2018 and the IU Bicentennial Medal in 2019. He lives in Bloomington, Ind.

{1990s}

Brian Peterson, IU economics M.A. ’92, Ph.D. ’00, has been named Vice President for Academic Affairs at LaGrange College. Dr. Peterson comes to the post with nearly 30 years of experience in higher education. Read the news release here.

Krishna Srinivasan, Ph.D., ’93, was appointed Director of the Asia and Pacific Department at the International Monetary Fund in June 2022. He has more than 27 years of experience at the IMF. Read the press release here.

Daniel C. Wuthrich, B.A., ’93, has been promoted to product manager of storage systems for Brock Grain Systems, a division of CTB Inc. In his new position, Wuthrich will be responsible for managing projects and programs to help Brock increase market share and ensure profitable sales of its industry-leading storage products. He will develop a deep knowledge of customer needs, market trends, and channel opportunities, while working closely with the sales team to improve service, value-added solutions, and customer satisfaction. A CTB employee since his college graduation, Wuthrich has gained vast experience at Brock. His past positions with the company include international project manager, customer service representative, product specialist and product technical group manager. Wuthrich is a native of Milford, Ind. He currently resides in New Paris, Ind.

{2000s}

Jonathan Manning, M.A., '04, married Brook Lameo on August 25, 2020. They adopted a dog, Nalla, on January 28, 2022. Jonathan also accepted a new position at the IMF as Risk Oversight Officer on May 1, 2021.

{2020s}

Zhilei Xia, B.A., ’20, writes, “I really want to thank our economics department for giving me the chance to be an undergraduate TA in 2018–2020, which was meaningful and helpful. Also, I want to thank my great professor, Nastassia Krukava, who helped me a lot by writing recommendation letters. With her help, I successfully applied to study for a master’s degree in Boston and will continue to study economic development. After graduation, I went to Los Angeles and started an internship. It was an extremely hard time after COVID-19 began. Fortunately, I successfully applied to work for a law firm in the marketing department. This work experience made me realize how important it is to build up my social network. Then I considered jumping jobs to a nonprofit organization, to serve and help more international students like me. One interesting point is that I met one of our IUB economics alumni in a church meeting. He had the same major as mine, but he is amazingly 72 years old now!”