2024 CEHD Distinguished Alumni Award

Misty Heggeness, PhD, is an associate professor at the University of Kansas, and also co-director and founder of the Kansas Population Center.

Heggeness is a 1999 graduate of FSOS. She also received master's degrees in Social Work and Public Policy as well as a doctoral degree in Applied Economics from the University of Minnesota. Honored for her innovative use of data to address poverty, inequality and decision-making, especially related to gender and economics, Heggeness' led economic research initiatives for the U.S. Department of Labor, National Institutes of Health, and the U.S. Census Bureau that informed decision-making within the U.S. federal government. 

Her research focuses on poverty & inequality, gender economics, and the high-skilled workforce and has appeared in outlets like The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, NPR, The Economist, and Science. 

Currently she is an associate professor in the School of Public Affairs and Administration and an associate research scientist in the Institute for Policy and Social Research at the University of Kansas. Her forthcoming book, Swiftynomics: Women in Today’s Economy, explores the impact of female-driven spending and the acceleration of economic power wielded by women. 

She has also developed a curriculum based on her book research to introduce high school and college students to economics. Featuring videos, PowerPoint slide decks, and worksheets, the curriculum gives instructors flexibility to explore the NFL-Taylor Swift phenomenon in a single session or over a week.