Biography & Professional Activities


BIOGRAPHY / CONTACT INFOVITA (Education/Books/Articles/Professional Activities)



Biography
I was born 3/26/61 in a suburb of San Diego California.  I attended school primarily in Texas and graduated from Mt. Pleasant High School in 1979.   I started my undergraduated education at the University of Texas at Arlington and finished my BA in Economics at Western Kentucky University in 1983.  From 1983-86 I pursued my Ph.D. in economics at George Mason University in Fairfax Virginia and was able to benefit from working at the Center for Study of Public Choice directed by 1986 Nobel Prize winner James Buchanan.  My close work there with leaders in the field such as Robert Tollision, Mark Crain, and Bill Shughart along with course work under Gordon Tullock, Kevin Grier, and others had a huge impact on my development as an economist.  I received my Ph.D. in May 1986 and began as an Assistant Professor at WKU in the fall of 1986 working up to appointment as Distinguished University Professor in 2003. In December of 1987, I married Julia Gary of Bowling Green, and together we have two wonderful daughters: Merritt (1992) and Dana (1996).

Contact Information
Department of Economics; Western Kentucky University
Bowling Green, KY 42101; E-mail: brian.goff@wku.edu
Phone: 270-745-3855; Fax:  270-745-3190