Ottawa University economics professor Dr. Russ McCullough will give a lecture at UNC Pembroke on November 13.

McCullough’s visit is part of the School of Business Distinguished Speaker Series. His talk “North Carolina and the Rest of the World: Economic Freedom Matters” will begin at 3:45 p.m. at the University Center Annex. A reception will follow.

McCullough is the Wayne Angell Chair of Economics at Ottawa University in Kansas. He is founder and director of the Gwartney Institute for Freedom, Justice and Human Flourishing–a think and teach tank that serves students and explores empirical evidence from social institutions around the world as well as the intersection of ‘Faith and Economics.’

He joined OU in 2011 coming from Iowa State University where he earned his PhD in Public Economics and taught classes while pursuing many entrepreneurial endeavors. While working on his dissertation in 1997, he was offered co-ownership in a real estate firm he worked at while in school that specialized in college student housing.

Property management and real estate sales eventually grew into having a few agents under his brokerage license. Shortly thereafter, his daily activities focused more on real estate development which included multi-family housing, commercial mixed-use buildings and subdivisions.

Real estate served as a catalyst into other business ventures with partners including a construction company, a restaurant, a boutique hotel and an equestrian center. He brings a unique blend of real-world experience and academic rigor to his interactions with student audiences around the world.