Aaron Kolb worked in the finance industry for a few years before going to Duke for his Ph.D. He was thrilled to join the IU BEPP faculty in the summer of 2016—his first academic job.
At IU, Kolb teaches a Ph.D. class on economic modeling and an undergraduate game theory class.
“My research focus is on applied economic theory, and I am especially interested in studying strategic behavior in long-run interactions and strategic communication,” says Kolb.
One of his most recently completed papers was a joint effort with several coauthors, including BEPP colleagues, Marilyn Pease and Dan Sacks.
“We studied students’ decisions to disclose or not disclose their course grades under uncertainty about those grades,” says Kolb, who is currently working on a project with other coauthors about stake-building and price manipulation by activist shareholders.
Kolb has enjoyed working in this field for a number of reasons. On the research side, he loves collaborating to solve difficult problems and eventually seeing work get published. On the teaching side, nothing is better than when a student approaches him about connections they’ve made between his game theory class and things they’ve observed in the real world.
Kolb and his wife, Jennifer, have been married for 11 years. They have three daughters: Sophie (8), Abigail (6), and Hailey (4). During the pandemic, Kolb bought a bike, which was not an easy endeavor as they were a hot commodity and tough to find!
“I have enjoyed that for exercise and for getting around town without paying exorbitant fuel prices,” he says. When he finds a little free time in a day, he usually spends it either exercising or improving his cooking skills. The family’s favorite getaway is to drive a couple of hours over to Ohio to enjoy the Kings Island amusement park, which this year is celebrating its 50th anniversary.
Aaron Kolb, Assistant Professor
“My kids are just big enough now to start riding real rollercoasters,” says Kolb.
In the summer of 2019, Kolb went to a conference on the island of Ischia off the coast of Naples, Italy. Kolb was astounded by the natural beauty that surrounded him. It was a high, both personally and professionally, as he got to meet and discuss research with many other theorists from around the world. He had an equally rewarding experience in February 2020 when he was on vacation with his wife in Orlando and ran into two of his former Kelley students.
“We were about to board the Jurassic Park water ride when I saw them,” he says. “[We caught up, and] they seemed to be doing great in their careers, as BEPP majors are wont to do.”
Though traveling is fun, Kolb is always happy to come back home to Bloomington as he appreciates the cooperative academic atmosphere that is shared among both students and faculty. Plus, it’s nice to return to his piano. Not many people know this, but Kolb has played classical piano since he was ten years old.
“My favorite composers are Chopin and Rachmaninoff, but I enjoy most genres of music,” he says.
The other thing he has enjoyed is simply learning from life—both the good and the bad, the hard and the easy lessons.
“I think it’s best [not to seek] perfect advice and instead be willing to take more calculated risks,” says Kolb. “Ultimately, I think we learn best from our own experience.”
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