Julia Paxton

Ohio University - Global Challenges Teaching Award Exploring Inequality

Julia Paxton is a Professor of Economics at Ohio University where she teaches classes on poverty, development economics, global and local food economies, agricultural development, and altruism.  She has worked on a number of research projects related to poverty and inequality for the World Bank, the United Nations, USAID, and foreign governments.  Her research interests include poverty and inequality, microfinance, altruism, and service-learning.   

A native of Athens, Ohio she has deep connections within the community which she uses to incorporate experiential learning into all of her courses.  Her poverty and altruism classes both have a significant service-learning component which require students to work with local non-profit organizations in Appalachia focused on issues of inequality.  She has a passion for teaching and is the recipient of several teaching awards at Ohio University including University Professor, Presidential Teacher, and the Honors Tutorial Outstanding Tutor award. She holds a doctorate in Agricultural Economics, specializing in microfinance, from The Ohio State University.