Faculty & Instructors
You’ll learn from distinguished Queen’s University faculty members and expert instructors, benefiting from years of academic research and industry experience.
Dr. Christopher Cotton
Chris Cotton is a Professor of Economics at Queen's University, holds the prestigious Jarislowsky-Deutsch Chair in Economic & Financial Policy, and is a co-founder of the Certificate in Professional Impact Analysis program. He is Director of the John Deutsch Institute for the Study of Economic Policy, and co-director of the Centre for Innovative Policy Research at Queen’s.
Dr. Cotton is a cross-appointed professor in the Schools of Public Policy and Medicine at Queen’s, and an invited researcher with J-PAL at MIT. He is a co-owner and research advisor at Limestone Analytics, and the scientific director of the Canadian Public Economics Group.
From 2021-2024, Prof. Cotton was co-director of the One Society Network, a national research network of economists, public health officials, and other researchers working to measure the broader impacts of COVID-19 and pandemic policy. He also served on the Royal Society of Canada’s COVID Working Group Economic Recovery and Global Canada’s Covid Strategic Choices Group.
He has been published in top scientific journals such as the American Economic Review, Management Science, the Journal of Public Economics, and the Journal of Labor Economics and has included seminal papers on several topics. He has received major grant awards from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), the Tri-Council’s New Frontiers in Research Fund (NFRF), Canada’s Digital Technology Supercluster, and the Spenser Foundation for Education Research.
He regularly advises major firms, governments, and organizations including the World Health Organization, USAID, Nutrition International, World Vision, and others.
Dr. Bahman Kashi
Bahman Kashi is a Continuing Adjunct Assistant Professor at Queen’s University, and the founder and an economist with Limestone Analytics. He is a co-founder and the Academic Director of the Certificate in Professional Impact Analysis program.
Dr. Kashi has consulted in the areas of economic impact assessment, public investment management, economic analysis of development projects, and evaluation of social programs. He has worked on capacity building and technical advisory projects in Rwanda, Kenya, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Haiti, Malaysia, Canada, United States, Cyprus, Ghana, Lesotho, Indonesia, and Switzerland.
His research interests include the economics of energy, transport, and telecommunication markets; private sector engagement and innovative finance; integration of environmental and social impacts into cost-benefit analysis, monitoring and evaluation; and institutional aspects of impact analysis.
Dr. Kashi has held numerous professional positions under multi-year technical contracts, including the Research Director for USAID’s Learning, Evaluation, and Analysis Project (LEAP) III (2018-2022), a Senior Advisor to the Economic Analysis division of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) (2018-2021), the Program Manager for the 5-year consulting contract with MCC on gender and social inclusion (GSI) (2021 - 2026), and the Lead Expert on a 5-year consulting contract for supporting the Economic Analysis division of MCC.
Dr. Elspeth Murray
Elspeth Murray is an Associate Professor, Director of the Centre for Entrepreneurship, Innovation & Social Impact, and CIBC Fellow in Entrepreneurship at Smith School of Business, Queen’s University.
She served as Associate Dean (MBA and Master’s Programs) from 2012-2022 and has been a professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship at Smith School of Business since 1996. Prior to joining Smith, she worked in industry for firms including IBM and Canadian Tire. Dr. Murray teaches on many MBA and Queen’s Executive Education programs for Smith School of Business.
As an integral part of her work in the strategy and new venture fields, Dr. Murray specializes in the management of change. In 2002, she co-authored a best-selling book, Fast Forward: Organizational Change in 100 Days, Oxford University Press, with Dr. Peter Richardson. Her current research is focused on understanding how organizations are reaping the benefits of embracing purpose beyond profits, and how society is benefiting as a result. Dr. Murray consults widely with firms. Current and past clients include BMW Canada, Torex Gold, Wawanesa Insurance, Versacold Logistics, Ontario’s Technical Safety Standards Authority, and the Auditor General for Canada. She serves as a Director for several firms and is an advisor to numerous start-ups and CEO's.