Meet our dedicated team who work tirelessly to improve the lives of Canadians and their families. Together, Institute staff, researchers and our growing network of Senior Fellows from around the world have helped make us the top think tank in Canada.
Russell S. Sobel
Professor of Economics & Entrepreneurship, Baker School of Business at The Citadel
Russell S. Sobel is Professor of Economics & Entrepreneurship in the Baker School of Business at The Citadel in his
hometown of Charleston, South Carolina. He received his Ph.D. in economics from Florida State University in 1994. He is co-editor of the Southern Economic Journal and is a member of the editorial boards for the journals Public Choice and the Journal of Entrepreneurship & Public Policy. He serves as a Regional Advisory Committee Member for the South Carolina Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office Board of Economic Advisors. He is the recipient of numerous awards for both his teaching and research including the Kenneth G. Elzinga Distinguished Teaching Award from the Southern Economic Association, the Georgescu-Roegen Prize for Best Article of the Year in the Southern Economic Journal, the Association of Private Enterprise Education Distinguished Scholar Award, and the Sir Antony Fisher International Memorial Award for his book Unleashing Capitalism. He has produced over two dozen Ph.D. students, most of which have gone on to pursue distinguished academic careers. He is the author or coauthor of over 250 academic journal articles and books including Growth and Variability in State Tax Revenue: An Anatomy of State Fiscal Crises, The Rule of Law, Unleashing Capitalism, and The Essential Joseph Schumpeter. His publications have appeared in a wide variety of academic journals including the Journal of Political Economy, Journal of Law and Economics, Public Choice, Journal of Business Venturing, Small Business Economics, and Economic Inquiry. His research has been featured in many leading news outlets including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, U.S. News and World Report, Investor’s Business Daily, The Economist Magazine, The Financial Post, CNBC, and the CBS Evening News. His current recent research focuses on the intersection of entrepreneurship and economic policy.
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Dean Stansel
Research Associate Professor, Cox School of Business, Southern Methodist University
Dean Stansel is a Research Associate Professor at the Bridwell Institute for Economic Freedom in the Cox School of Business
at Southern Methodist University and a Senior Fellow of the Fraser Institute. Before entering academia, Stansel worked for seven years at the Cato Institute. He is the primary author of Fraser Institute's Economic Freedom of North America annual report and sole author of an economic freedom index for U.S. metropolitan areas. Stansel’s academic publications have appeared in the Journal of Urban Economics, Public Finance Review, Journal of Housing Research, Journal of Regional Analysis and Policy, Review of Law and Economics, and Cato Journal. His op-eds have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, and many other newspapers. Stansel earned his PhD and MA in economics from George Mason University and his BA in economics (with honors) and politics from Wake Forest University.
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Deani Van Pelt
Senior Fellow, Fraser Institute
Deani Van Pelt is a Senior Fellow and Former Director of the Barbara Mitchell Centre for Improvement in Education at the
Fraser Institute. Following her studies at McMaster University (B.Comm.) and the University of Toronto (B.Ed.) she taught mathematics and business subjects in both public and private secondary schools. She then completed her M.Ed. and Ph.D. in Education at The University of Western Ontario where she was awarded the Bishop Townshend Gold Medal Award for excellence in graduate studies. From 2006 to 2014 she served at Redeemer University College, first as Assistant Professor and then as Associate Professor of Education. During this time she led several international research collaborations funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, taught a variety of courses including Systems of Education, and was Director of Teacher Education for four years. Her research and publications in Canadian education policy include studies in home schooling, independent schooling and education funding. She has presented numerous times over the last two decades in academic and practitioner conferences across North America. Recently a co-author of the Fraser Institute studies Education Spending in Canada: What’s Really Happening? and Financial Savings: Restructuring Education in Ontario Using the British Columbia Model, she continues to appear on TV and in radio talk shows across Canada. Her work has been featured in many Canadian newspapers including the National Post and Globe and Mail and she has served as an expert witness.
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Michael Walker
Fraser Institute Founder and Honorary Director
Michael Walker was the executive director of the Fraser Institute from its inception in 1974 until September 2005. Before that
he taught at the University of Western Ontario and Carleton and was employed at the Bank of Canada and the Federal Department of Finance. He received his Ph.D. at the University of Western Ontario and his B.A. at St. Francis Xavier University. In 2016, he was appointed to the Order of Canada in recognition of his outstanding achievement, dedication to the community and service to the country.As an economist, he has authored or edited 45 books on economic topics. His articles on technical economic subjects have appeared in professional journals in Canada, the United States and Europe, including the Canadian Journal of Economics, the American Economic Review, the Journal of Finance, the Canadian Tax Journal, Health Management Quarterly, Weltwertschaftliches Archiv and Health Affairs. His primary concern as the founding Executive Director of the Fraser Institute has been to promote the examination and use of competitive markets as a method for enhancing the lives of Canadians.He is the co-founder, with Milton and Rose D. Friedman, of the Economic Freedom of the World project which is now a collaboration of institutes in 85 countries and produces the annual Economic Freedom of the World Index. The Index is one of the most widely cited such measures in the current academic literature.He is a director of a number of firms and other enterprises, including, Canaccord Capital, Mancal Corporation, The Milton and Rose D. Friedman Foundation, and the owner of the Prado Verde Estates and Falcon MHP. He is a director of The Pacific Academy for Advanced Studies which organizes the annual Alamos Alliance meetings of the Chicago Boys who have been instrumental in the economic reform process in Latin America and elsewhere.He has received the Vancouver Rotary Club Service above Self Award, the Colin M. Brown Freedom Medal and Award by the National Citizens' Coalition, an honorary Doctor of Laws degree (LL.D.) from The University of Western Ontario and The Thomas Jefferson Award from the Association of Private Enterprise Education.
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Consider a rewarding career in the world of ideas, and join the Fraser Institute’s dedicated staff who work together to improve the lives of Canadians and their families.