Dear MEG Community,
I hope this message finds you well. I wanted to share some important updates from our recent Annual MEG Conference held at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign on October 3-4, 2025. I would like to extend my sincere thanks to JiHyung Lee (Chair of Local Organizing Committee), Marcelo Cunha Medeiros (Best Student Paper Award Selection Committee), and EunYi Chung (Mentoring Workshop for Junior Female Economists) for their outstanding work in organizing this year's conference.
During the conference dinner, we held a special ceremony to honor Larry Marsh, the founder of MEG, for his visionary leadership and enduring contributions to our community. Although Larry was unable to attend, I emailed him a photo of the appreciation plaque along with the statement I read at the ceremony and a wonderful message from Jeff Wooldridge that was shared with the participants.
Larry's dedication over the past three decades has shaped MEG into the vibrant scholarly community it is today, and we are all deeply grateful for his foundational work and ongoing support.
I am delighted to announce the recipients of the 2025 MEG Best Student Paper Awards:
Congratulations to both David and Pedro for their outstanding work! I would like to express our deep gratitude to Ken Weakley, a former professor and director of the Investment Workshop at the IU Kelley School of Business, for his generous support that made these awards possible. I would also like to thank Jeff Wooldridge and Michael McCracken for their continued service as standing committee members of the Best Student Paper Award Selection Committee.
The MEG webpage, which has been graciously created and maintained by Larry at the University of Notre Dame for the past 35 years (https://www3.nd.edu/~meg/), is now in the process of transferring to Indiana University and will be managed by me going forward. The new website can be found at https://midwesteconometrics.github.io/midwesteconometrics/. I will be adding information about Larry's appreciation award and this year's Best Student Paper Award winners to the new website soon. Please let me know if you find any problems with the new webpage or have suggestions to improve it.
Thank you all for being part of this wonderful community. I look forward to seeing many of you at future MEG meetings.
Warmest wishes,
Yoosoon Chang
MEG Director/Coordinator
Indiana University Bloomington
Presented to Lawrence C. Marsh, Professor Emeritus of Economics, University of Notre Dame
As the Director/Coordinator of MEG, I extend our deepest gratitude for your visionary leadership in founding the Midwest Econometrics Group and nurturing its growth into a vibrant scholarly community.
Your enduring commitment to advancing econometric theory, methods, and applied research has shaped generations of scholars across the Midwest and beyond. Through your care in preserving our digital home and maintaining the tradition of annual meetings, you have built bridges that continue to connect and inspire.
With sincere appreciation for your foundational contributions and ongoing stewardship of this intellectual community.
Yoosoon Chang, MEG Director/Coordinator
Presented at the 2025 MEG Annual Meeting
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
I attended the first MEG meeting at Notre Dame in 1991, shortly after arriving at MSU. My new colleague, Peter Schmidt, said I should attend a new meeting. That's when I first met Larry Marsh. I was impressed that he could organize a meeting, focusing on econometrics in the Midwest. Larry did a fantastic job keeping MEG going.
I have enjoyed attending several meetings, and being the after dinner speaker at Iowa State in 1997. Many of my former students have made presentations at MEG, as well as various coauthors. I wish I could be there this time; I probably would be the only one who attended in 1991.
Larry was the MEG director for many years, and ensured its continuation after he retired in 2005 by handing over the reigns to Jason Abrevaya and Justin Tobias. And I'm not sure how the transition to Yoosoon occurred, but the meeting is now bigger and stronger than ever. I, personally, am grateful to Larry for getting the MEG train rolling, and for ensuring its strong future. I wish Larry the best.