The Omicron Delta Epsilon international honor society for economics is one of the oldest and most selective honor societies fully recognized and accredited by the Association of College Honor Societies in the United States.

The honor society seeks to recognize high scholastic achievement in economics, to stimulate and promote student interest in all aspects and economics, and to encourage the pursuit of economic research that is relevant, ethical, and impactful to the profession and the local community.

First honorary member

The chapter inducted Director General Paul Yin-Lien Chen of the Taiwan Economic and Cultural Office on Guam as its first-ever honorary member.

Chen holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in the field of diplomacy from the National Chengchi University in Taiwan. His academic programs required the completion of economics courses, allowing him to meet the honor society’s eligibility.

Faculty and student inductees

Also inducted into the honor society was Peter R. Barcinas, interim associate director for the Cooperative Extension & Outreach at the College of Natural and Applied Sciences.

The students inducted were:

• Celia J. Anderson, BBA – Professional Pathway
• Nathaniel Jacob Dela Cruz, BBA – Finance & Economics
• Kamerin Marie Guerrero, BBA – Finance & Economics
• Steve Eric Sun Terlaje, BBA – Finance & Economics
• Laarnie Dayrit Vinca, BBA – Professional Pathway

Student members must have completed 12 credit hours of economics courses, including six credits of economic theory courses, have a GPA of at least 3.2, and make the study of economics one of their major interests.

All of them proved their interest and capability in economic research relevant and impactful to Guam when they co-authored the “2020 Guam Economic Report,” which was co-published by the School of Business & Public Administration and the Omicron Delta Epsilon chapter at UOG, on Dec. 31, 2020. They also completed the required economics courses and met the required GPA. In addition, Anderson and Terlaje presented their research papers at SBPA’s 15^th Annual International Conference on Business, Economics, and Information Technology (ICBEIT 2021) in March 2021.

Leading the induction ceremony were the local chapter’s officers: President Prairie Garrido, Vice President Donovan Alger, Secretary Mary Catherine Wiley, and Treasurer Justine Arida.

Chapter accomplishments

In the past year, the chapter conducted regional outreach by hosting several guest lectures by its members at the College of Micronesia-FSM campus. It also promoted research on sustainable agriculture and food policy by hosting guest presentations by Anthony R. Delmond, an assistant professor of agricultural economics at the University of Tennessee at Martin, and by Yeon A. Hong, a research fellow at the Korea Rural Economic Institute, who both hold doctorates in economics.

The chapter also co-published the “2020 Guam Economic Report” in its mission to produce ethical, relevant, and impactful research on Guam, and facilitated international research collaboration in its sponsorship of ICBEIT 2021, in which 11 ODE members presented research papers.

Join Omicron Delta Epsilon

Those interested in joining the ODE honor society may contact Professor Maria Claret Ruane at ruanem@triton.uog.edu to see if they meet the eligibility requirements. Other faculty co-advisors for ODE are Assistant Professor of Agricultural Economics Kuan-Ju Chen and Professor of Economics Roseann Jones.