The Conference of Heads of University Departments of Economics (CHUDE) works to promote the research and teaching of economics in the UK. It was established by the Society in 1987 in collaboration with the Association of University Teachers of Economics.
CHUDE consists of Heads of Economics and related departments and units at UK universities and meets twice a year in the Spring and Autumn. There are currently around 100 members. A steering group acts on behalf of the full committee between the main meetings.
CHUDE usually acts as the lead for the Society on providing feedback on consultations and is happy to consider items of academic interest to be circulated to its members.
2026 Meetings:
Chair of CHUDE
Emiliya Lazarova is the Head of School of Economics and Associate Professor in Economics at UEA. Emiliya’s main research contribution is in coalition formation and matching theory and she pursues a wider agenda in applied theory. Emiliya is a member of the Royal Economic Society Schools Outreach Sub-Committee. Emiliya is also a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
Chair of Women’s Committee (co-opted) | University of Southampton
Jo is Professor of Economics and Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Southampton. Jo is a labour economist interested in low wages, working hours and in-work poverty. Her research has been funded by the ESRC, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and the Low Pay Commission. Jo is a member of the Home Office’s Migration Advisory Committee and a Trustee of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
University of Bristol
Alvin Birdi is Professor of Economics Education in the Economics Department of the School of Economics, Finance and Management, University of Bristol.
Chair of the Professional Development & Education Committee | University of Bristol
Steven Proud is a Professor of Economics Education at the University of Bristol, and Chair of the Professional Development and Education Committee. He is an editor of the International Review of Economics Education, and is an executive board member of the Economics Network, which works to enhance the quality of economics teaching and learning. Steven’s research focuses on using empirical methods to evaluate the impact of pedagogical innovations.
Alongside this, Steven regularly writes for, and is an editor for, the Economics Review, providing application of economics to real-world problems for A-level students.
Cardiff Metropolitan University
Ramakanta (Ram) Patra is a senior lecturer and the current field group chair in economics at Cardiff Metropolitan University. Ram works on theory of repeated games and its various applications in economics and related studies. Ram is a member of the schools outreach sub-committee of the Royal Economic Society and is passionate about proliferation of economic education among school children.
University College London
Peter is Professor of Economics and the Academic Director of Education for the Department of Economics at University College London. His main research interest is in mechanism design (procurement procedures, auctions, etc.) with a special emphasis on mechanisms without money/transferable utility (such as arbitration procedures, voting rules and matching mechanisms). Peter obtained his PhD in Economics from University College London (UCL).
University of Aberdeen
David is Head of Economics and Director of Education of the University of Aberdeen Business School. He is managing editor of the Elsevier journal International Review of Economics Education. His principal research interests are in the areas of open economy macroeconomic modelling, labour economics and the economics of health and wellbeing. He is a member of the Chartered Association of Business Schools (CABS) Learning, Teaching and Student Experience (LTSE) Committee and a CABS Certified Management and Business Educator (CMBE). He is a Senior Fellow of the HEA, and an Associate of the Economics Network. In 2022 he was a member of the QAA Advisory Group for the Economics Subject Benchmark Statement Review.
University of Southampton
Carmine Ornaghi is a Professor of Economics and Head of the Department of Economics at the University of Southampton. His research focuses on empirical industrial organization, with a particular emphasis on the pharmaceutical sector and the water industry. His work has been funded by the ESRC, and he has served as an academic advisor for the Directorate-General for Competition (DG-Comp) of the European Commission on different projects examining the impact of competition policy enforcement on innovation.
The Open University
Dr Emilie Rutledge is currently Head of Discipline, and Senior Lecturer in Economics at The Open University and Managing Editor of the Journal of Gulf Studies. Prior to joining The Open University, she was an Associate Professor of Economics for over a decade at the United Arab Emirates University, she has worked as an economic consultant in multiple Middle East countries (UAE, Bahrain, Syria) and has industry experience as an economist in the UK’s private and public sectors. Her research focuses on the applied economics of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states, in particular the impact of hydrocarbons on the socio-economic transformation of the Gulf states and the political economy implications of the Arab Gulf Social contract for achieving economic diversification and labour market objectives in the region.
The University of Edinburgh
The University of the West England
