David W. Schodt is professor of economics and director of the Center for Innovation in the Liberal Arts at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. He received a BS in electrical engineering from Cornell University, an MA in policy analysis, and a PhD degree in economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
He teaches courses in microeconomics, economic development, and Latin America. His research interests focus on economic policy and political change in Ecuador, where he served as a Peace Corps volunteer, and later returned as a Fulbright Research Fellow. As director of the center, he oversees the College’s learning and teaching program for faculty, an important component of which is support for the scholarship of teaching and learning.
From 2002–2006, David led St. Olaf College’s participation in the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching’s CASTL Campus Program, which was designed to "cultivate the conditions necessary to support the scholarship of teaching and learning." In cooperation with Carleton College, he established the first national conference, "Innovations in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning at the Liberal Arts Colleges," held in Northfield in 2005 and 2007. He is currently leading a group of eight institutions as part of Carnegie’s CASTL Institutional Leadership Program, which is intended "to facilitate collaboration among institutions with demonstrated commitment to and capacity for action, inquiry and innovation in the scholarship of teaching and learning."