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Our People

Fellows and Scholars

Meet our directors, fellows, and scholars

Carlos Carvalho

Executive Director
Carlos Carvalho is a Professor in Statistics at the McCombs School of Business. His research develops statistical models to enhance our understanding of effects of economic policies.
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Richard Lowery

Senior Scholar
Dr. Richard Lowery is an Associate Professor of Finance and has been at at UT since 2009, when he completed his Ph.D. in Economics at Carnegie Mellon University. He is an applied game theorist, with research in banking, investment banking, real estate, and other topics.
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Gregory Salmieri

Senior Scholar
Gregory Salmieri is the co-editor of A Companion to Ayn Rand (Wiley-Blackwell, 2016) and Foundations of a Free Society (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2019), and author of numerous articles on philosophy, many of them focusing on aspects of Rand’s philosophy, Objectivism.
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Taylor “T.J.” Canann

Director of the Policy Research Laboratory
Dr. Taylor Canann is the Director of the Policy Research Laboratory with the Salem Center in the McCombs School of Business. He is also a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Finance Department at McCombs where he studies cyber policy, the economics of information and cybersecurity, and computational economics.
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David Puelz

Director of Policy Analytics
David Puelz is the Director of Policy Analytics for the Salem Center and a Clinical Assistant Professor in the McCombs School of Business. His research develops computational methods for applied data analysis, especially in social and behavioral sciences.
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Dima Yazji Shamoun

Salem Scholar
Dima runs the Fellowship on the History and Foundation of Markets, and is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Finance at the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin, where she teaches economics in the MBA and BBA programs.
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Mark Regnerus

Senior Scholar
Mark Regnerus is a Senior Scholar at the Salem Center for Policy and a Professor of Sociology at the University of Texas at Austin. His research is in the areas of sexual behavior, family, marriage, and religion. Mark is the author of over 40 published articles and book chapters, and four books. The last two […]
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Tom Gilligan

Senior Visiting Scholar
Prior to recently joining the Salem Center, Tom Gilligan was a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution. Before joining the Hoover Institution, Gilligan was the dean of the McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin.
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Scott W. Bauguess

Senior Visiting Scholar
Dr. Bauguess is a Visiting Senior Scholar Salem Center and is a Clinical Associate Professor of Finance at the McCombs School of Business.
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Bryan Caplan

Senior Visiting Scholar
Visiting Senior Scholar to the Salem Center. Professor of Economics at George Mason University and New York Times Bestselling author. Author of The Myth of the Rational Voter, named “the best political book of the year” by the New York Times, Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids, The Case Against Education, and Open Borders (co-authored with Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal’s Zach […]
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Richard Hanania

Visiting Scholar
Richard Hanania is the President of the Center for the Study of Partisanship and Ideology. He is the author of Public Choice Theory and the Illusion of Grand Strategy: How Weapons Manufacturers, Generals, and Foreign Governments Shape American Foreign Policy (Routledge 2021). His work has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, and Newsweek, among […]
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Steven Rashin

Postdoctoral Fellow
Dr. Rashin is a Postdoctoral Fellow with the Salem Center in the McCombs School of Business, where he studies corporate influence over the policymaking process.  His research sits at the intersection of political science, public management, and corporate political activity.
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Henrique Bolfarine

Visiting Scholar
Henrique Bolfarine is a visiting scholar to the Salem Center for Policy working in latent variable modeling with applications in social sciences. He is currently working towards his PhD in the Department of Statistics at the University of São Paulo. He has his BA in Applied Mathematics and MA in Statistics from the University of São Paulo.
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Chris Snapp

Managing Director
Chris Snapp is the Managing Director at the Salem Center for Policy since 2021. He holds a BA in Political Science and a BS in Urban Studies from the University of Minnesota. In his role, Chris oversees center operations. This includes partner outreach, staff management, event coordination and student engagement. He is also responsible for […]
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Pablo Flores

Senior Administrative Program Coordinator
Pablo Flores is the Senior Administrative Program Coordinator at the Salem Center for Policy within McCombs School of Business. He comes to McCombs with a history of working in Higher Education in various roles. Within the Salem Center he manages the administrative functions of the center, media strategy/content, drives engagement, and the centers portfolio of […]
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Libby Brookshire

Administrative Associate
Libby Brookshire is the Administrative Associate at the Salem Center for Policy within McCombs School of Business. She holds a BS in Integrative Studies with concentrations in Philosophy, Sociology, and Health Promotion from the University of North Texas. 
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Carleigh Zips

Student Brand Coordinator
Carleigh Zips is a sophomore majoring in Public Relations. As the Student Communications Coordinator, she is able to develop and maintain skills that are crucial to the field of PR.
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Shai Davis

Student Podcast Coordinator
Shai Davis is a junior majoring in journalism and earning a certificate in public policy. As a podcast producer for the center, she has gotten to develop a slew of digital media skills
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Michael Ebenstein

Research Assistant for the Objectivism Program
Michael Ebenstein is a grad student majoring in Electrical and Computer Engineering. As the Research Assistant for the Objectivism Program, he is coordinating the Objectivism Program, organizing and advertising events, and producing the Choose Your Issues podcast.
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Student Affiliates

Juan Antonio Artero Calvo

FHFM Fellow, Policy Research Laboratory

BS Mathematics Honors

Lauren Aycock

FHFM Fellow

Entrepreneurial Management; Government Minor

Taylor Cox

Policy Research Laboratory

Master’s in Global Policy Studies; Dean’s Certificate in Data Science for Policy Analysis

Isaiah David Rodriguez

Policy Research Laboratory

Government; History Minor; Elements of Computing Certificate

Anna Pate

Policy Research Laboratory

Plan II Honors and Economics; Chinese Minor

Kathy Ding

Policy Research Laboratory

Business

Myeongrok Doh

Policy Research Laboratory, Policy in Pieces Group

Business Honors, Finance

Ashish Dave

Policy in Pieces Group

Business Honors, Plan II Honors, Finance; Business Spanish Minor

Divyaa Cherian

FHFM Fellow

Economics; BEOP Finance Minor; Applied Statistical Modeling Certificate

Justin Greenfeld

Policy Research Laboratory

Management Information Systems

Utsavi Manglik

FHFM Fellow

Economics Honors; Finance Minor

Sonali Mishra

Master’s Research Program

Economics

Chu Nie

Policy Research Laboratory

Economics(BA) and Mathematics(BSA); Applied Statistical Modeling Certificate; The Elements of Computing Program Certificate

Graesen Redding

Policy Research Laboratory

Economics

Daniela Serrano

Policy Research Laboratory

Economics and Mathematics; Public Policy BDP certificate

Diego Morales-Burnett

Policy Research Laboratory, Research Assistant, Teaching Assistant

Economics and Mathematics; Applied Statistical Modeling and Elements of Computing

Evelyn Cai

Policy Research Laboratory, Research Assistant

BHP and Finance; Elements of Computing

Maddy Helton

Research Assistant, Policy Research Laboratory

Business Honors Major; Economics Major; Business & Public Policy Certificate

Robert Keathley

Policy in Pieces Group

Finance; Accounting Minor

Hamaad Najam

Policy in Pieces Group

Public Relations

John Walkington

Policy Research Laboratory

Master’s in Economics

Lilian Rembert

Policy Research Laboratory, Research Assistant

Acccounting

Robert Deacon

Research Assistant

Management Information Systems & Mathematics; History Minor & Certificate in Applied Statistical Modelling

Alexander Domond

Research Assisant

Finance

Adan Leal

FHFM Fellow

Finance; Core Texts and Ideas, Business Public Policy

Yichen Pan

Research Assistant

Management Information Systems, Mathematics; Computer Science, Applied Statistical Modeling Certificate

Serena Chiu

Policy Research Laboratory

Management Information Systems; Marketing Minor; Elements of Computing Certificate

Kirby McDonald

FHFM Fellow

Economics and History; Business Spanish

Yichen Pan

Research Assistant

Management Information Systems, Mathematics; Computer Science Minor; Applied Statistical Modeling Certificate

Will Reed

Research Assistant, Policy Research Laboratory

Mathematics

Jacob Rhymes

Policy Research Laboratory

MSBA

Ashleigh Rose

FHFM Fellow

Economics and Advertising

Minjae Kim

Policy in Pieces Group

PhD in Accounting

Ashna Bhansali

Policy Research Laboratory

Finance, International Relations; Business Spanish

Zoe Tarr

Head Podcast Producer

Advertising; Business Minor

Divyaa Cherian

FHFM Fellow

Economics; Finance Minor; Applied Statistical Modeling Certificate

Theodore Jiang

Policy Research Laboratory

Finance and Economics

Andrew Sall

Research Assistant

BHP, Government, and Finance

Alexander Tang

Policy Research Laboratory, Research Assistant

Economics; Elements of Computing

Bhavya Shukla

FHFM Fellow

Economics

Rui Silva

Policy in Pieces Group

Ph.D. in Accounting

Nathan Graber

Policy in Pieces Group

Finance; Government

Ricky Huang

Research Assistant, Policy Research Laboratory

Economics; Business Minor

Hugo A. Sandoval

Policy Research Laboratory

Business Honors & Government

Chetan Goenka

Policy Research Laboratory, Research Assistant

Management Information Systems; Elements of Computing and Applied Statistical Modeling

Thomas Manbeck

FHFM Fellow

Accounting

Patricio Gonzalez Villanueva

Research Assistant

Economics; Minor in Finance; Certificate in Real Estate

Grace White

Policy Research Laboratory

International Business; Business Analytics Minor; Security Studies Certificate

Catherine Zhong

Research Assistant, Policy Research Laboratory

Economics

Siddhanth Deepak

Research Assistant

Finance, Mathematics

Graeson Redding

Policy Research Laboratory

Economics

Matthew Vu

Policy Research Laboratory, Research Assistant

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Brendan Miles

Policy Research Laboratory

Economics, Elements of Computing