Raymond Leach, Ph.D., M.A.

Biography 

Dr. Raymond Leach serves as the inaugural director of Augustana University Fintech Program by Pathward™. He joined the Augustana School of Business and Computer Science Department in August of 2020 as an assistant professor — teaching courses in data science, business analytics and computer programming.  His research interests include international economics and U.S. monetary policy — most recently presenting on “The Fed Tapering and Emerging Markets” at the Western Economic Association Annual Conference. In May 2022, Laura Arce Vieyra ‘23 and Leach received the Ralph and Susie Wagoner Student Faculty Research Award — established to foster and underwrite a cooperative student-faculty research project that is fruitful, creative and academic. Prior to Augustana, Leach served as research associate at the Claremont Institute for Economic Policy Studies and statistics instructor at California State University, Los Angeles. Leach earned a Ph.D. and Master of Arts in economics from Claremont Graduate University and Bachelor of Science in economics (Hon) and statistics from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. He earned a certificate in machine learning from Stanford University.