For more than three decades, Steven Schmidt has been a familiar face on campus.
Born in Chicago, he grew up in Kenosha, Wis. The Kenneth B. Sharpe Professor of Economics, Schmidt arrived at Union in 1994 after completing his undergraduate and Ph.D. in economics at Stanford University.
Schmidt teaches courses in econometrics, game theory, economics and race, the economics of education, microeconomics and normative economics. He also teaches the College’s first-year inquiry and supervises senior theses.
Steven Schmidt, the Kenneth B. Sharpe Professor of Economics, and his wife, Alexandra, in their sukkah.
As a professor in the social sciences, Schmidt is one of the few instructors of record in the four divisions of the College (Arts and Humanities; Social Sciences; Sciences and Mathematics; and Engineering and Computer Science).
His hobbies include rowing crew, choral singing and studying Jewish texts.
He and his wife, Alexandra, are the parents of three children. The family lives in Niskayuna.
FIRST APP YOU LOOK AT IN THE MORNING:
I don't really use apps, but I do Wordle in the morning on my computer and I guess it could be done through an app if I wanted to do it that way.
WHAT ARE YOU READING?
At the moment, a biography of Charles Sumner, abolitionist senator from Massachusetts in the Civil War period. But it varies a lot. Next book in the queue is called “Sources of the Self” for my economics and philosophy class; the one after that is a study of Hasidism. “A Community of Rights” by Alan Gerwith is on the break list too.
WHAT ARE YOU WATCHING:
The Green Bay Packers. Other than Wisconsin teams in the NFL and major league baseball, I don't often watch television.
BEST PIECE OF ADVICE YOU RECEIVED:
In the Union context, it was that I should teach first-year inquiry if I wanted to do it, but not until after I got tenure. It helped me stay focused on building up my record for the tenure evaluation but also gave me something to look forward to once I was over the big bump.
ONE SKILL YOU WISH YOU HAD:
Singing a G above middle C. A long time ago I could reach the F#. At my current age, even the E can be a struggle. If you're trying to sing tenor parts (which I do, in a community group called Ne'imah), having to switch to falsetto to get to the top of the range is a real bummer.
THREE DINNER PARTY GUESTS (living or deceased):
Dave Grohl. I wasted a few years in graduate school playing bass in a rock band right around the time “Nevermind” came out, so I'd love to hear about the music business from someone who's been really successful at it. I read his biography last year and, while he's made a few life mistakes, he seems like a genuinely nice and insightful person. William Sherman. At the start of the Civil War, Sherman more than anyone else in the United States understood what was at stake and what would be required to end the war, and he had the luck to reach a position where he could do it and the audacity to carry out his vision. I would like to hear his views on modern conflicts and their resolutions. Rebbe Nachman of Breslov. A late 18th, early 19th century Hasidic rabbi. Famous for, among other things, his deep and many-faceted kabbalistic stories. I would love to hear one (or more) direct from the source.
LITTLE KNOWN FACT ABOUT YOU:
I won a gavel award at the Harvard Model UN in my junior year of high school. I've always thought it made me stand out among all the other math/physics geeks, which is what I otherwise was, at college admissions time.
FAVORITE UNION MEMORY/EXPERIENCE:
Watching the NCAA hockey championship game at the watch party in Messa Rink in 2014. I have never been in such a joyously deafening place in my life before or since.
ONE THING YOU CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT:
Other than teaching? The morning cup of tea and newspaper is non-negotiable.
WHICH LIVING PERSON DO YOU MOST ADMIRE:
Alan Blinder (professor of economics at Princeton). Just before I started graduate school, I read his 1987 book, “Hard Heads, Soft Hearts.” While it didn't impact my graduate work in any direct way, it taught me a lot about how economics and public policy interact, and established a way of thinking about policy questions which has stayed with me to this day. He has not (yet) won the Nobel prize, but he has gotten many other distinguished awards, including the 2023 Moynihan Prize from the American Academy of Political and Social Science.
