Page 16 - Academic Report FINAL VERSION WEB

FACULTY SPOTLIGHT

Dr. Johnathan Yerby be doing as an old person.
What’s a work-related accomplishment that you’re
School of Computing really proud of?

Dr. Johnathan Yerby is Receiving the Outstanding Dissertation of the
an associate professor in Year award at Georgia State University.
the School of Computing. What’s one thing that surprised you about working
He is also director of the at MGA?
Center for Cybersecurity
Education and Applied Re- The amount of professional travel and develop-
search (CCEAR). He joined ment that I’ve been able to do. I’ve taught abroad two
the MGA faculty in 2009. different times already.
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
What do you do at MGA?
Teaching, scholarship, Being a father and husband.
What would we most likely find you doing on the
and service pretty much weekend?
sums up what I do at MGA.
I primarily teach and re- I’m very domesticated lately. On the weekend I am
search in cyber security and forensics. My service in- very likely cooking, cleaning, doing yard work, and
cludes helping students in and outside the classroom, taking my son to a park.
serving on institutional committees, and serving the What’s one item you can’t leave your home without?
community.
My car keys.
What’s the worst job you’ve ever had, and what did What’s something—big or small—that you’re really
you learn from it? bad at?

Selling shoes taught me how to work with the pub- Since using GPS so often, I’ve gotten much worse
lic and waiting tables taught me that I needed to stay at navigating or remembering directions. I feel like I’ve
in school because it wasn’t something that I wanted to reallocated that part of my working memory for other
things.

Dr. Greg George at MGA?
The quality and diversity of the students has con-
School of Business Dr. Greg George is an
associate professor in the stantly impressed me. I’ve also been extremely fortu-
School of Business. He nate to have one of the most collegial departments
joined the MGA faculty in I’ve ever been exposed to.
2001. What’s the biggest misconception people have
about your position/job?
In what circumstances
Most people think economics is just about mon-
would I come to you for ey; they don’t always understand that economists
perform a wide range of jobs and study a multitude
something? of topics. In my career, I’ve worked with the Federal
I teach microeconomics Reserve Bank gathering grassroots economic intel-
ligence, I’ve testified before the Justice Department
and international econom- and Senate subcommittees on tax reform, advised
ics, and I am the director mayors and other government officials, and worked
of the Center for Economic with private businesses.
Analysis, which I founded in What’s one thing most people don’t know about
2005. As director of the Center, I conduct econom- you?
ic analysis for businesses, government agencies, and
nonprofits. I race cars and climb volcanoes. Four years ago,
I climbed a 19,000-foot volcano in Ecuador and de-
What’s the worst job you’ve ever had, and what did scended on skis. Cayambe is the only place on the
you learn from it? equator with permanent snow.
What book(s) are you reading now?
When I was a child, I worked on a family farm pick-
ing plums for minimum wage. I learned I didn’t want All of the Provincial Public Accounts of Canada
to work outdoors and that minimum wage was not 1954-2019
going to get me very far in life. What’s something—big or small—that you’re really
bad at? Really good at?
What’s a work-related accomplishment that you’re
really proud of? Marriage and Probably skiing.
What is your most treasured possession?
My most significant accomplishment as an econo-
mist is becoming a testifying forensic economics ex- I have a 1909 Louis Comfort Tiffany lamp that I ac-
pert in the ongoing Canadian tobacco litigation. quired 7 years ago.

What’s one thing that surprised you about working

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