James Dean

James Dean is an accomplished academic currently serving as an Assistant Professor of Economics at Western Carolina University since January 2024. Prior to this role, James held the position of Assistant Professor at North Dakota State University from August 2022 to December 2023 and served as a Graduate Assistant at West Virginia University from August 2017 to May 2022. Additionally, James gained research experience as a Research Assistant at the Free Market Institute at Texas Tech in the summer of 2016, and as a Welfare and Entitlements Intern at the Cato Institute in late 2015, where responsibilities included synthesizing academic literature and providing research support in various policy areas. James earned a PhD in Economics from West Virginia University, completing the degree between 2017 and 2022, and holds a Bachelor’s degree from Lubbock Christian University, awarded in 2017.