Michael Hicks, nationally noted for research on the economic impacts of Wal-Mart, will add his expertise to Ball State University this Fall as the new director of the Bureau of Business Research.
"I'm just looking forward to working at a research center that is dynamic and accomplished as Ball State's Bureau of Business Research," Hicks said.
Following the departure of former director Patrick Barkey, the BBR conducted a nationwide search and narrowed the competition to three candidates.
Hicks' research on Wal-Mart, coal and the natural gas industry and taxation issues have been cited in more than 300 newspapers and appeared on more than 100 radio and TV broadcasts.
He's also been cited by both George W. Bush and The Nature Conservancy, according to his faculty vita.
Hicks also serves as associate professor of economics at the Air Force Institute of Technology's Graduate School of Engineering and Management at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio. Hicks served as Colonel in active duty for the U.S. Army for eight years before becoming a reservist and plans to retire from the military in 2008 to fully pursue his academic and research endeavors, he said.
Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Holt, Hicks' former colleague at the air force base, said people have mixed emotions about Hicks' departure.
"We are excited about this opportunity and being selected to move forward in his career but it has a downside because he's leaving us," Holt said.
Despite retiring from the army, Hicks said his time in the military will still influence his future work experiences.
While serving and in command of more than 300 people, he said he learned the value of input from others.
"Getting input from the broadest set of folks is an absolute must for success," he said.
Hicks said that the university's BBR already has a strong research base, but he will bring a broader breadth of knowledge concerning state and local economic issues.
"By me coming to Ball State, it doesn't make it better - just different," he said.
He plans to focus his research efforts at Ball State on how economics influence public policies within Indiana.
Such issues he might address include the influence of property taxes, loss of factory jobs and the effects Wal-marts have on economic development and policy.
He said the toughest obstacle will be to stay away from the emotions often evoked by certain topics.
"A state university has a responsibility to be an honest broker in those debates," he said.
Despite such foreseen complications, he said he is looking forward to being apart of Ball State and even hopes to bring good luck to the football team.
Hicks has lived in at least nine states throughout his life, and he plans to settle in Muncie with his three children, ages three, six and eight, and wife. He said is family is also excited for the move to Ball State.
"It would be difficult to overstate how great a university Ball State is," he said.
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