Yong Bao recently graduated this past June, after his fifth year as part of the Econometrics Ph.D. program. Commenting on the department and his major Bao stated, “The Economics Department has a strong econometric group. The three econometricicans are so good in doing research and teaching students econometrics.”

Bao received an award based on his project, Finite Sample Moments of Econometric Estimator with Non-IID Observations. According to Bao, the project develops the analytical results on the first two approximate moments of consistent econometric estimators in models with observations that can be (auto)correlated and heterogeneous. The research provides a unified approach to evaluating the statistical accuracy of economic models, which are used for policy purposes and economic forecasting.

Bao is “very proud” of his recognition. “The award not only acknowledges my unique contributions in the area of econometrics, but also encourages me to continue with my research in this field. Many tough questions still remain there,” Bao commented.

In addition, Bao mentioned the support of Professor Aman Ullah, his thesis advisor, “He is an expert in my field, finite sample econometrics. I have learned all the knowledge in this field from him.”

Christian Trajano from the Department of History was selected and given special honor as the recipient of this year's Alumni award. His project Cultivating and Archiving 100 Years of Filipinos in Riverside was “designed to shed historical light on a long overshadowed past of the Riverside community and culminated in the creation of a Filipino archive at the Riverside Municipal Museum and the creation of a museum-quality exhibit celebrating ‘A Century of Filipinos in Riverside.’”

Clifford Trafzer, Trajano’s advisor commented, “Christian is a star and conducted pathbreaking research which will lead to a book. His exhibit at the Riverside Museum is quite unique.”