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Beauty and the Least (Paid) $$$

Beauty and the Least (Paid) $$$

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Football was never intended to be a beauty pageant. A study led by economics professor Brad Humphreys backs it up. In fact, if you’re a handsome heartthrob coaching an NCAA Division I team, you might get a penalty flag when it comes to pay.

Using a face recognition and machine learning approach, researchers found that head coaches with a more aggressive appearance earned a salary premium. More attractive football coaches, on the other hand, faced a salary discount.

And, because you’re probably already wondering, Neal Brown ranked among the top quarter of attractive coaches.

Former WVU football coach Dana Holgorsen was ranked “substantially less attractive.”

“One explanation for the attractiveness discount and aggressiveness premium may stem from that fact that American football is a very aggressive sport, and an unattractive face might signal mental and physical toughness, viewed as a desirable characteristic in this market,” Humphreys said. Tackle more at go.wvu.edu/footballbeauty.

First Pitch

Supported by Silicon Valley CEO Ray Zinn, the first ZinnStarter Pitch Competition, hosted by the LaunchLab, gave aspiring collegiate entrepreneurs an opportunity to win cash to build their ideas into the next groundbreaking product or business. Winners included: First place ($2,500): Emma Adams, WVU animal and nutritional sciences major, and her business idea PetRecord, which provides universal medical records for pets in emergency situations; second place ($1,500): Cameron Keefe, global supply chain management major, and her idea ThermoRoller, which combines physical massage with temperature control to relieve sore muscle pain; and third place ($1,000) to the team of Austin Davis, Anne Byer and Emily Thomas, from the University of Charleston, and their idea Second Chance, a program that helps give active control back to people with quadriplegia and paraplegia. 

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Frank Fumich: Mountain Man

Chambers College alumnus Frank Fumich no longer lives in West Virginia, but he’s still called to the mountains – specifically, Mount Everest. 

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Economics, Gentrification and Crime

You often don’t think of gun violence, gentrification and drug crime when thinking about business education. But one recent economics alumnus found a research niche on that topic. 

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Lifesaver

Not all heroes wear capes – some wear whistles. 

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Economics graduate honored with Order of Augusta

Senior William Turman was honored with the Order of Augusta, WVU’s highest student award. An economics major from Barboursville, Turman has had an extremely active WVU career, participating in the Army’s Reserve Officer Training Corps, the Student Government Association and the Chambers College’s Behavioral Economics and Situational Testing (BEAST) Lab, which he also named. His next steps include being commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Army, interning with Sen. Shelley Moore Capito and pursuing his graduate studies in economics.

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