headshot of Rajeev Goel

Rajeev Goel

Professor of Economics Rajeev K. Goel will deliver the fall College of Arts and Sciences Lecture at 7 p.m. Tuesday, November 12, in the Old Main Room of the Bone Student Center. All members of the University and Bloomington-Normal communities are invited to attend.

His talk, “Corrupt (and not so corrupt) Ways to View Corruption” is free and open to the public. A reception will follow the lecture. “I welcome everyone to join us for what promises to be an insightful look at what corruption is and some of the ways that it affects our lives,” said Interim College of Arts and Sciences Dean Diane Zosky. “Dr. Goel is a talented scholar, and we look forward to learning more about this area of his research.”

Goel earned a Ph.D. in 1987 from the University of Houston and then spent two years at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where he conducted research on technology transfer and government contracting. He joined the faculty at Illinois State University in 1989 and was named professor of economics in 2000. His research focuses on applied microeconomics, and he approaches his research questions from both theoretical and empirical perspectives. He was the winner of an Outstanding University Researcher award in 2011. Since 2018 he has also been associated with the Kiel Institute for the World Economy in Germany.

The author of over 150 scholarly articles, two scholarly books, and 18 book chapters, Goel’s work appears in a range of prestigious journals, including American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Journal of Development Economics, Public Choice, Economics Letters, Economics of Governance, Empirical Economics, Kylos, Journal of Economic Surveys, Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics, and the European Journal of Political Economy. In 2016, he received the Bergson Prize, which recognizes the top published paper in Comparative Economic Studies over a two-year period.

As part of his research on the economics of tobacco, Goel has been asked to serve on national and international tobacco research review panels. As part of his research on the economics of corruption, he has been invited to serve on a panel to comment on the corruption index developed by Transparency International and to talk about corruption control by the comptroller general of Peru. The college is pleased to recognize his dedication to teaching and service to Illinois State, in addition to his scholarship, and congratulates him on being named the 101st College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Lecturer.