In addition to being an economist, I am a Roman Catholic priest and a member of the US Central and Southern Province of the Society of Jesus, an international religious order also known as the Jesuits.
I decided to study economics in order to use my undergraduate degrees in mathematics and computer science from the University of Oklahoma, in order to understand more deeply the reasons why many Mexicans and other Latin Americans migrate to the United States. In my second year in the Jesuits, I worked in the Casa de los Pobres, a Franciscan soup kitchen in Tijuana, Mexico in spring 2007. The experience on the border left a deep impact on me.
From 2015-18, during my theology studies, I completed concurrently a Master’s in International and Development Economics at the University of San Francisco and a Master’s in Divinity at the Jesuit School of Theology. I did fieldwork in Chiapas, Mexico with Capeltic, a coffee cooperative sponsored by the Mexican Jesuits.
As a newly ordained priest, I worked four blocks from the US/Mexico border at Sacred Heart Catholic Church from 2018-2020. This second experience on the border confirmed my desire to study economics in order to come up with better public policy, both in sending communities like those in Chiapas and receiving communities like in El Paso.
I completed my PhD in Applied Economics at the University of Minnesota in 2025 and now serve as the Wade Jesuit Visiting Assistant Professor at the Department of Economics of Marquette University. I continue to visit El Paso and Chiapas on a regular basis.
Education
PhD in Applied Economics (2025)
University of Minnesota
Master of Science in International and Development Economics (2018)
University of San Francisco
Master of Theology (2018) and Master of Divinity (2017)
Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University
Master of Arts in Philosophy (2011)
Loyola University Chicago
Study in Kyoto Program (2004-5)
Ritsumeikan University (Kyoto, Japan)
Bachelor of Science in Computer Science (2006)
Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics (2006)
Summa cum laude
Minor: Japanese
University of Oklahoma