About James V. Koch
James V. Koch is Board of Visitors Professor of Economics and President Emeritus at Old Dominion University. He also has held teaching and research positions at institutions including Illinois State University, the University of Grenoble (France), Brown University, the University of Hawai’i, the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in Australia and the University of Montana. He served as President of the University of Montana (1986-1990) and Old Dominion University (1990-2001) and was named one of the 100 most effective college presidents in the United States.
Dr. Koch earned a B.A. degree from Illinois State University and a Ph.D. degree in Economics from Northwestern University. He has published ten books plus 100 articles in refereed journals. His research has focused primarily upon applied microeconomics topics. His journal articles on the economics of intercollegiate athletics, the economics of discrimination and affirmative action, TQM, the economics of education, and e-commerce have been reprinted and cited frequently.
One of the focal points of Dr. Koch’s research has been the risk-taking behavior of corporate CEOs. Funded by the Kauffman Foundation, the results were published as Born, Not Made (Praeger, 2008, co-author James L. Fisher). Another of his books – America For Sale, a study of the purchase of U.S. assets by foreigners (Praeger, Fall 2009, co-author, Craig T. Bouchard) – earned wide attention, especially in the steel industry, which is its primary focus. Dr. Koch served for several years as a member of the board of the Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Company and its successor, Esmark.
Dr. Koch has served as a consultant or expert witness for over fifty legal firms, corporations, and universities. He also has done significant research on the pricing of college textbooks and has testified before congressional committees on that subject.
For eleven years, Dr. Koch has produced the widely cited State of the Region Report for the Hampton Roads, Virginia, metropolitan area (population 1.6 million) that analyzes and assesses the region’s economic, political and social conditions.
Additionally, he has led or been a part of teams commissioned by the presidents or boards of trustees of more than 50 universities to evaluate the strategic position of these institutions. He has evaluated the presidents of institutions such as the University of Hawai’i, the University of Central Florida, Florida Gulf Coast University and the University of Alaska. His 1996 book, Presidential Leadership (co-authored with James L. Fisher) is used as a reference and textbook in many universities and leadership institutes. In July 2004, his The Entrepreneurial College President (with James L. Fisher), was published by Praeger for the American Council on Education.
Another interest of Dr. Koch is the History of World War II; he began to teach a History of World War II course early in the 1980s and has published a series of items on aspects of World War II. His publications on WW II focus on the eastern front. A 2008 DVD entitled “Valkyrie” focusing on the 1944 assassination attempt upon Adolf Hitler features Dr. Koch as an expert commentator. He is a non-competitive runner, a life-long St. Louis Cardinal fan, and wishes he had more time to play basketball.
