Rate My Professor Thomas Kemp

Thomas Kemp is Chair and Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, a position he has held since 2016 following promotions from Assistant Professor (2002-2008) and Associate Professor (2008-2014) to Full Professor in 2014. He earned a Ph.D. in Economics from Colorado State University in 2002, an M.A. in Economics from the same institution in 1997, and a B.A. in Economics (Cum Laude, with Honors in Economics) from Carthage College in 1995. Earlier in his career, Kemp served as Lecturer at the University of Denver (2001-2002), Alderman for the 3rd District of the Eau Claire City Council (2007-2011), and Maritime Economist Specialist with the Department of Transport-Maritime Sector in Abu Dhabi, UAE (2011-2012), where he received an award for Outstanding Service to the Emirate in 2011. He has held visiting professor appointments at Ateneo University in Manila, Philippines (Spring 2023), Kobe University in Japan (Summers 2021 and 2022), Jinan University in Guangzhou, China (Summer 2007), and Vietnam National University in Hanoi (January 2006). Additionally, Kemp directs the Economics Internship Program at UW-Eau Claire since 2012 and served as President of the United Faculty of UW-Eau Claire (2010-2011).

Kemp's academic interests encompass non-market valuation, economic philosophy, institutional economics in the tradition of John R. Commons, local and state economic policy, and the economics of skateboarding and skateparks. He teaches courses including Environmental Economics (ECON 268), History of Economic Thought (ECON 311), Principles of Macroeconomics (ECON 104), Econometrics (ECON 316), and Applied Economic Development Strategies (ECON 491). His scholarly output includes two books: Basic Macroeconomics (2nd edition, Cognella Publishing, 2023) and Progress and Reform: The Economic Thought of John R. Commons (VDM Publishers, 2009). Key peer-reviewed publications feature "Shred Central: Estimating the User Benefits Associated with Large Public Skateparks" (Journal of Economic Analysis, 2025), "The Skateboard Ethic and the Spirit of Anti-Capitalism" (Board Cultures, 2026, in press), "The Legal Foundations of Property 1924-1978" (Journal of Economic Issues, 2024), "Convergent Validity of Satellite and Secchi Disk Measures of Water Clarity in Hedonic Models" (Land Economics, 2021, with David Wolf), and "Integrating Applied Field Work into the Undergraduate Economics Curriculum" (Journal of Economic Issues, 2019). Kemp has produced numerous policy reports assessing economic impacts, such as the effects of water clarity on home prices in Wisconsin counties and opportunities for green manufacturing.