Associate Chair and Instructor, Economics
By: Kendall Harrison (Posted on November 19, 2024)
Joshua Eubanks is a two-time Knight who earned both his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees at UCF and is now Associate Chair and an Instructor in the Economics department! Find out more about this Knight below.
How long have you been a Knight? I started at UCF as a transfer student in Spring 2015. I earned both my bachelor’s and master’s degrees here. I taught as an adjunct at nights while working at Siemens starting in Fall 2019, then left Siemens to teach full-time in Fall 2022. So, in Spring it will be 9 years.
What awards or honors are you most proud of? While I haven’t received official awards, my efforts have been recognized. In my first semester at UCF, I was in a course with 1,600 students and was asked to be a teaching assistant soon after. My performance as a TA for ten different courses, a research assistant, and my academic performance earned me a full-ride scholarship for graduate school. This led to opportunities to teach as an adjunct and eventually full-time. My work has been acknowledged, resulting in my current role as Associate Chair. I appreciate those who have recognized my efforts.
What do you love about what you do? With the classes I teach, I have the opportunity to learn about what students enjoy and then experience those things myself. I like having practical answers to the question, “When will I ever use this?” With my experience at Siemens and in consulting, I have an insider’s perspective on why we teach what we teach. My favorite part is seeing my students succeed; for example, one of my labor economics students is now employed as an Economic Research Associate at the Florida Department of Commerce working with employment data. It validates what I do.
What do you find most exciting and rewarding about your field of study? Economics is to business what physics is to engineering: you cannot be a good engineer without understanding physics, and you cannot be a good business person without understanding economics. Even if you do not pursue a career in business or economics, studying economics makes you a better decision-maker. It helps you frame decisions properly and, if you’re in a leadership role, it aids in identifying and creating the right incentives for better outcomes. Moreover, economics is incredibly versatile. Whether you’re interested in the environment, sports, or any other field, there’s an area of economics that applies.
When you’re not in the classroom, what can we find you doing? If I’m not at UCF, I’m likely supporting my daughter at gymnastics competitions. I tend to have short-lived hobbies, such as surfing, piano, guitar, and record collecting, but I love to cook and have been growing bonsai since COVID.
What is your favorite UCF memory? My Bachelor’s degree graduation. My family insisted I walk, even though the ceremony was three hours long. As we were leaving, a family member handed my one-year-old daughter to me, and I carried her out. I felt a deep sense of comfort, knowing that this degree would help me provide a better future for her.
What is your best advice for Business Knights? All business students should learn a programming language like Python or R. Today’s datasets are too large for Excel, which can only handle 2^20 rows and 2^14 columns. Even if you do not plan to go into business and instead want to pursue graduate school, having data-handling skills will improve your chances of being selected as a Graduate Research Assistant (GRA), as you will be more useful to faculty.