Dietrich Vollrath, Professor, served as Chair of the Department of Economics for six years beginning September 1, 2019. On September 1, 2025, he transitioned back to the department to concentrate on research, teaching, and blogging. During his time as Chair the Department grew in prestige and size as Dietz was able to secure major donations to the department and directed the impressive growth of the undergraduate program as it doubled in size to about 1000 students. Amidst all the accolades, he chaired the Department while it suffered two major traumas. The COVID pandemic hit within the first six months of his being chair and was the time when the whole university had to go online after Spring Break 2020. Dietz kept a cool head and cheered the department on to achieve high performance in the new digital environment. If that was not enough, Dietz was chair through the time the department was twice relocated when our former home of over 40 years, McElhinney Hall, was transitioned to other use. In early January 2022, we moved to temporary quarters in Old Science. The second move was when Dietz responded to disgruntled faculty and masterminded the move in June 2023 to Teaching Unit II in the old Law School. Dietz’s new moto is “I will not move again!”
To celebrate his tenure as Department Chair, Dietz and wife Kirstin hosted a barbeque bash party on May 3, 2025. The photo display here is from that event. The department gift to Dietz--based on his well-known Star Wars proclivities--was a “small” Lego set, a 7000-piece Millennium Falcon. Dietz immediately set to work building the Falcon, and the photos show his halfway point in one week and completion 2 weeks later. An amazing feat even to other fans of “The Force..”
At the party there were many toasts and roasts including some funny comments from Steven Craig and David Papell, longtime members of the Department. Steve said, “Dietz clearly did a great job because he guided us through both the pandemic and the gypsy wilderness.” And “The department under Dietz’ strong leadership had majors balloon to almost 1000 while the faculty groaned under the increased workload.” David countered with “Like Moses before him, Dietz led us out of our ‘ancestral home’ in McElhinney as we wandered through the wilderness, first to Science and then to Teaching Unit 2. While, like Moses, he won't be Department Chair when we reach the ‘promised land’ of Technology 2, we will always be grateful for his leadership along the journey.” The incoming chair Aimee Chin opined “I look forward to continuing the strong leadership from which the department has greatly benefited.”
When asked for pithy comments about his time as chair Dietz says “I don’t know that there are really any items on the CV about being chair, other than that it happened? I didn’t really keep a running list. ‘Department still exists and did not burn to the ground’ seems like #1 on the list.”