Recently retired Associate Professor of Economics, Mamadou Kane, served as the grand marshal for two separate undergraduate commencement exercises at East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania held on May 2, 2009.

Professor Kane joined the department of political science and economics at ESU in January, 1972. When the two departments separated, he joined the economics department. He has taught at ESU for the last 36 years, beginning with introductory macroeconomics and microeconomics, and later adding international trade, international finance, history of economic thought and economic growth and development.

Professor Kane worked closely with the office of admissions during his early years at ESU to help bring international students from Africa, viz. Senegal and Gambia to ESU. Several excellent students were among those who came to ESU, including Noah Samara, who would eventually become the founder of XM Satellite Radio.

While retired from ESU, he remains actively involved in helping international students adjust to ESU, finding housing and part-time work. He also served as advisor to the African Students Organization in (1970s) and advisor to the International Students Association (1980s-1990s).

Professor Kane also served on numerous ESU committees, including the Sabbatical Leave Committee, the ESU Self-Study Committee chaired by the late Professor Richard Prince of the computer science department and a number of committees promoting diversity at ESU. Presently, he continues to advise the Moslem Students Association and is a member of the ESU Economics Club.

He has been a frequent guest lecturer on the topics of Islamic and African cultures and on Islam and tolerance.  He plans to continue his service to the ESU community even after retirement.

Professor Kane is a member of the American Economic Association and the Cato Institute in Washington, D.C. He earned his bachelor's degree in economics in 1970 and a master's degree in economics in 1972 from New York University. He pursued his doctoral degree from NYU and completed all the comprehensive examinations.

He and his family live in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania.

Dr. Christofides played an integral part in the creation of the Department of Economics in 1973. He was also instrumental in creating the concentration in Management, which later became a major. He established the Economics Club and eventually expanded it to an Economics/Management Club to include all majors in the department. His application to Omicron Delta Epsilon, the International Honor Society in Economics, was successful in establishing the Alpha Xi chapter on campus. He is a co-founder of E-News, the student-oriented economics newsletter that allows students to write on business and economics topics while learning basic research skills. E-News is issued twice a semester and has become very popular on campus and within the wider community. With other members of his department, Dr. Christofides formed BERG, the Business Economics Research Group of ESU. This group has received over $400,000 in grants and has completed research projects for ESU, local economic planning groups, the state government, and such prestigious organizations as the Brookings Institute and the National Education Association.

Dr. Christofides served as the elected chair of the Department of Business Management and Economics from 2005 to 2008. He currently is a faculty member in the re-formed Department of Economics. He is a member of the American Economic Association, the National Association for Business Economics, and the Association of University Business and Economic Research.

Dr. Christofides received his B.S. from Rider College, and his M.S. and PhD. in Economics from Lehigh University.