Western Carolina names first Gimelstob-Landry professor

CULLOWHEE - Angela K. Dills, associate professor of economics at Providence College in Rhode Island and associate director of the college’s Center for Teaching Excellence, has been named the inaugural Gimelstob-Landry Distinguished Professor in Regional Economic Development at Western Carolina University.

The appointment of Dills, which is effective Aug. 1, was approved by the WCU Board of Trustees during its recent quarterly meeting, according to a news release.

The Gimelstob-Landry Distinguished Professorship, endowed at $500,000, was established through a gift of $250,000 from Florida real estate executives Herbert Gimelstob and Laurence D. Landry. Those dollars were combined with matching funds through a state program initiated by the General Assembly to encourage private support of public institutions of higher education in North Carolina.

The professorship is designed to address core issues in education and regional economic policy development for Western North Carolina, said Darrell Parker, dean of the WCU College of Business.

“We are pleased that Dr. Dills is coming to WCU. She will provide a new dimension to our ability to understand and contribute to economic development in Western North Carolina and across the state,” Parker said in the release. “She has the expertise to help Western Carolina in its role as a key leader in regional and community development efforts for the mountain region that this university was founded to serve.”

A member of the economics faculty at Providence College since 2010, Dills focuses her research on the areas of public economics and on economic issues related to education, labor, crime and health.

Dills holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and Spanish from the University of Virginia, a master’s degree in political economy from Boston University and a doctorate in economics, also from Boston University.