Walter Simmons
Professor
Background
Dr. Walter O. Simmons is Professor of Economics and Director of Global and International Business Programs in the Boler College of Business. Over his academic career, he has developed and implemented international programs across Africa, South America, Europe, China, and India.
Dr. Simmons brings more than thirty years of experience as a scholar, academic administrator, and community partner. He has served as Associate Dean and Department Chair and has been deeply engaged in cooperative university–community partnerships. His broad professional background has prepared him to address complex academic, administrative, and global challenges across a wide range of institutional settings.
He has received several distinguished honors, including the University Distinguished Faculty Award—the highest and most prestigious faculty award at John Carroll University—and the Excellence in Education Award from Ohio Magazine for outstanding performance as an educator in Ohio. Dr. Simmons has also served as a Visiting Professor of Economics at Regent’s University London and at St. George’s University in Grenada.
Dr. Simmons is actively involved in community leadership and currently serves on multiple school, church, and corporate boards. He is the Finance Chair of the T.A. Marryshow Community College (TAMCC) Council in Grenada, Board President of Buckeye Credit Union in Ohio, and School Board Chair of Ramah Christian Academy in Cleveland. In his personal time, he enjoys traveling, fitness activities, and teaching financial planning and innovation to teenagers and young adults.
Areas of Expertise
Over the past 30 years, Dr. Simmons has acquired a broad range of experience as a scholar, academic administrator, and leader in university–corporate and community partnership initiatives. His professional experiences and accomplishments have prepared him to address complex opportunities and challenges across a wide variety of institutional and organizational settings. He brings extensive qualifications and a proven ability to serve as a constructive and productive asset in multiple leadership and advisory capacities.
Dr. Simmons’s areas of specialization include:
- Research on nonprofit organizations and social enterprises
- Economic development and financial institutions in the Caribbean
- Global and international business program development
Research Interests
Dr. Simmons has published extensively in the areas of labor economics, economic development, health economics, and nonprofit and social enterprise. He is a coauthor of the recently published textbook Economics for Nonprofit Managers and Social Entrepreneurs, a pioneering work that updates the world’s first textbook in nonprofit economics and demonstrates how economic principles contribute to improved managerial decision-making on social issues.
He continues to build upon a long-standing research agenda and has authored multiple manuscripts, with substantial progress underway on an additional book project. His current research focuses on two primary areas: (1) economic development and financial dynamics in small open economies, and (2) nonprofit organizations, social enterprises, and philanthropy in the United States.
In recent years, Dr. Simmons has acquired a new dataset on Seventh-day Adventist Church tithing and plans to develop a research project titled The Elasticity of Tithing. This study will examine whether religious giving (tithing) behaves as a normal or luxury good. In addition, the project will analyze changes in giving in response to tax rate adjustments and to shifts in government provision of public goods traditionally supplied by nonprofit organizations, thereby testing the crowding-out hypothesis.
Education
Dr. Simmons earned his Ph.D. in Economics from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. He holds an undergraduate degree in Business/Economis from Oakwood University in Huntsville, Alabama, and is a graduate of St. Andrew’s Anglican Secondary School (SAASS) in Grenada.
Courses Taught
EC2201 and 2202 – Principles of Microeconomics and Macroeconomics
EC2210 – Business Analytics & Statistics
EC3301 – Intermediate Microeconomics
EC3321 – Labor and Human Resource Development
EC3342 – Economic Development
EC3352 – Comparative Economic Systems
EC3362/EC5560 – Health Care Economics & Financing
EC5501 – Economics of Nonprofit Sector
EC5551 – Managerial Economics
IB3301 – Culture and Change, Co-teaching with Dr. Ernest
MOL5562 – Global Business - International Study Tour
AS 1010 – Advising for Success Boler-France
Publications
Selected Publications
Young, D. R., Steinberg, R., Emanuele, R., & Simmons, W. O. (2019). Economics for nonprofit managers and social entrepreneurs. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Simmons, W. O., & Lim, S. (2016). What have remittances done? Evidence from the Caribbean Community and Common Market. Review of Black Political Economy.
Simmons, W. O., Welki, A., & Zlatoper, T. (2016). The impact of driving knowledge on motor vehicle fatalities. Journal of Transportation Research Forum.
Simmons, W. O. (2013). How “too big to fail” policies threaten free-market capitalism. Smart Business Magazine, December 23.
Simmons, W. O., & Emanuele, R. (2013). Effects of socio-economic characteristics on the medication of children for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). American Journal of Health Sciences, 4(4), Fall/Autumn Quarter.
Simmons, W. O., & Emanuele, R. (2012). Giving patterns by religious and non-religious people. Journal of Applied Business Research, 28(6), November–December.
Simmons, W. O., & Zlatoper, T. (2010). Obesity and motor vehicle deaths in the U.S.: A state-level analysis. Journal of Economic Studies, 37(5), 544–556.
Simmons, W. O., & Aggarwal, R. (2008). Common stochastic trends among Caribbean currencies: Evidence from Guyana, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago. Journal of Economics and Business, 60, 277–289.
Simmons, W. O., & Emanuele, R. (2007). Male–female giving differentials: Are women naturally more altruistic? Journal of Economic Studies, 34(6), 534–550.
Simmons, W. O., & Aggarwal, R. (2006). Economic integration among Caribbean countries: Evidence from purchasing power parity, 1980–2000. Journal of Policy Modeling, 28, 277–280.
Simmons, W. O., & Emanuele, R. (2004). Does government spending crowd out donations of time and money? Public Finance Review, 32(5), September.
Simmons, W. O., & Andrews, L. (2003). Potential impact of money and capital markets in the Eastern Caribbean. Global Business & Economics Review Anthology, 292–302.
Simmons, W. O. (2002). Black earnings gap: Discrimination or culture? Journal of Socio-Economics, 31(6), 648–655.
Simmons, W. O. (1996). An economic analysis of mandatory mediation and the disposition of medical malpractice claims. Journal of Legal Economics, 6(2), 41–75
