Economics expert appointed emeritus professor

Vanessa Lam

16 April 2015: He may have retired from teaching in January but economics professor Phil Lewis is keeping busy in his new role as an emeritus professor at the University of Canberra.

Professor Lewis, who estimates he has taught more than 10,000 students in the past 14 years, said what he'd miss the most about teaching is meeting students and passing on knowledge of economics to the next generation.

"I hope that after taking one of my classes that students can appreciate just how important economics is in every aspect of their lives, from choosing a gym membership to the reasons behind the rising cost in petrol, " he said.

Professor Lewis was appointed emeritus professor in recognition of his distinguished service to the academic life of the University of Canberra and now divides his time between his research in economics of Australian employment, education and training, writing textbooks, supervising PhD students and mentoring fellow staff members.

"I'm a great believer in the synergy between research and teaching. It's about getting fairly complex ideas across and showing how economics can benefit people and show greater understanding of policy problems," he said.

Professor Lewis has also made a name for himself as a regular commentator on economic issues in the media with over 600 media appearances to date including for The Conversation, Australian Financial Review, The Australian, The Canberra Times, ABC radio and WIN Television.

Professor Lewis joined the University of Canberra in 2001 as foundation professor of economics and head of the school of business. He was appointed discipline leader in economics in 2004 and since then has successfully supervised 10 doctoral students.

He remains the director for the University's Centre for Labour Market Research and is currently working on a paper for the Committee for Economic Development of Australia on how the labour market in Australia has changed.