Each year the KEA presents the Kentucky Distinguished Economist award at its annual conference.
The 2025 Kentucky Distinguished Economist Award recipient is Dr. Brian Goff
Brian Goff is a University Distinguished Professor (Emeritus) of Economics at WKU.
He received his Ph.D from George Mason University in 1986 and has served on the faculty at WKU since then, instructing some 25 different undergraduate and masters level courses. He has also served as a visiting professor at the Center for Study of Public Choice at George Mason, the Graduate School of Public Policy at Pepperdine University, and Harlaxton College in England.
Professor Goff’s research interest have spanned several areas with primary focus on political economy and the economics of sports and organizations. He has published over 50 refereed articles on topics such as racial integration in sports, managerial practices in sports, NCAA practices and profitability, federal budget deficits, impacts of economic advisors, and Federal Reserve policy. His articles have appeared in outlets such as the American Economic Review, Journal of Law and Economics, Journal of Money Credit and Banking, Economic Inquiry, Southern Economic Journal, and Public Choice.
He is the author or coauthor of seven books including The NCAA (1992), Macroeconomic Performance (1996), Spoiled Rotten: Affluence, Anxiety, and Social Decay in America (1999), and most recently, Sports Economics Uncut (2019). From 2013 to 2021, he was a contributor at Forbes.com SportsMoney. He has published feature editorials in major newspapers and provided expertise to a variety of media outlets including New York Times, Time magazine, ESPN.com, Los Angeles Times, and San Francisco Chronicle. He has been awarded two National Science Foundation/Kentucky EPSCoR grants.
He lives in Bowling Green with his wife (Julia) of 37 years and lovable beagle (Zuzu).
Kentucky Economic Association Roll of Distinguished Economists
| 1975 | James Martin |
| 1976 | William Herzel |
| 1977 | Marlon Gillium |
| 1978 | Don Soule |
| 1979 | Clifton Lowry |
| 1980 | Paul Tanner |
| 1981 | Damon Harrison |
| 1982 | Charles Haywood |
| 1983 | Charles Hultman |
| 1984 | James Thompson |
| 1985 | Lawrence Lynch |
| 1986 | Stephen Lile |
| 1990 | Roy Bahi |
| 1991 | Juanita Kreps |
| 1992 | Ray Marshall |
| 1993 | Paul McCracken |
| 1994 | Benjamin Friedman |
| 1995 | Alan Randall |
| 1996 | Gerald Lynch |
| 1997 | Ronald Jones |
| 1998 | Price Fishback |
| 1999 | James Ramsey |
| 2000 | Kerry Back |
| 2002 | Eugene Steurle |
| 2003 | Margaret Walls |
| 2004 | Merl Hackbart |
| 2005 | Donald Kenkel |
| 2006 | W. Kip Viscusi |
| 2007 | Ralph d’Arge |
| 2008 | John Whitehead |
| 2009 | Glenn Blomquist |
| 2010 | Jeffrey Lacker |
| 2011 | Amitabh Chandra |
| 2012 | James J. Heckman |
| 2013 | Jerry R. Skees |
| 2014 | Paul A. Coomes |
| 2015 | La Vaughn M. Henry |
| 2016 | Eugenia F. Toma |
| 2017 | Kathryn H. Anderson |
| 2018 | Frank O’Connor |
| 2019 | David Wildasin |
| 2020 | John Garen |
| 2021 | Cathy Carey |
| 2022 | Frank Scott |
| 2023 | Todd Stinebrickner |
| 2024 | Bruce K. Johnson |