Sandra

Dr. Sandra Trejos is a Professor of Economics at Pennsylvania Western University – Clarion (former Clarion University through July 2022) and a Costa Rican native who became a U.S. citizen in 2018. She did her Bachelor’s in Economics at the University of Costa Rica and as a United States Agency for International Development (U.S.A.I.D.) Scholar did her Master’s Degree at Oklahoma State University where she also completed her Ph.D. in Economics. She has been part of Pennsylvania Western University since 2004 where she received tenure and promotion to full professorship in 2009. She is a member of the International Who’s Who Historical Society, Phi Eta Sigma, Phi Kappa Phi, and Beta Gamma Sigma. Dr. Trejos is a 2009 and 2010 Who’s Who in America, and a 2010-2011 Who’s Who of American Women. She previously taught at the University of Costa Rica, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, and the University of South Dakota. Nationally, Dr. Trejos received the Outstanding Latina Faculty: Service/Teaching in Higher Education Award at the 2014 American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education (A.A.H.H.E) Conference in Costa Mesa, California.

She is fluent in Spanish and English, and holds a diploma in French language. She earned the 2009 Clarion University Outstanding Faculty Equity Award, and she has been awarded research awards by the College of Business and several teaching awards from different organizations throughout the years. In addition, she earned the 2010 Clarion University Faculty of the Year Award by the Student-Athlete Committee, and in the Summer 2015, she was awarded the Distinguished Faculty Award by the Clarion University Alumni Association.

At the university-level, she was a member of Faculty Senate from 2008 to 2011, Chair of both the Sabbatical-Leave Committee and the General Education Council for two terms, and the Study Abroad Coordinator for the University from 2005 to 2008. She has also been an active member of the Presidential Commission on the Status of Women and a Board member of the former University Theater Council. She was part of the Women and Gender Studies Council and is currently a member of the International Advisory Council and the People and Culture Task Force for Pennsylvania Western University.

Dr. Trejos has been the founding advisor of two clubs: Study Abroad Club, which she advised for five years and the Clarion University Model United Nations (C.U.M.U.N.) Club, which took off in 2013. She has also been advising the Economics club, P.E.A.C.E. since 2005.

Dr. Trejos has led the Clarion in Costa Rica experience in 2014, 2016, and 2019, a course that provides a better understanding of the Costa Rican society, through lectures, visits to museums and art performances, firms, government agencies, and ecological trips. Furthermore, she has sponsored many students for their undergraduate research. Under her mentorship, students have presented at both the Midwest Economics Association (M.E.A.), where few students are competitively selected, and at the Pennsylvania Economic Association (P.E.A.).

In the economics profession, she has worked with the Scholarship and Awards Committee for the American Society of Hispanic Economists (A.S.H.E.) and it is currently serving for its Membership Committee. The Pennsylvania Economic Association is another organization for which she was the 2011-2012 Vice-President of Publicity, the 2012-013 Vice-president of Program and Proceedings and the 2013-2014 President Designate. She was the 2014-2015 president of such professional organization and remains an ex-officio director of its Board. She is also a mentor for the American Economic Association Pipeline Summer Conference and the Diversity Initiative for Tenure in Economics (DITE) sponsored by the Social Equity Center at Duke University.

Dr. Trejos has received multiple grants towards research and professional development at both the college and the university levels throughout the years, and was the principal investigator for a grant by the Pennsylvania System of Higher Education that brought different speakers to campus. She has been an active reviewer for different publication outlets and has presented at conferences nationally and internationally. She has served as external reviewer for promotion purposes for colleagues at other institutions of higher education and has done work for Pearson Publishing, and published scholarly work in several peer-reviewed journals in the fields of economic education (as inspired by classroom-based research), international economics, and economic development. She currently works on research in the field of happiness economics.

Dr. Trejos served as judge for the Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science (P.J.A.S) for six years at both the regional and state levels, and she was a member of the Clarion University Campus Ministry Board for seven years. Finally, during her Sabbatical leave she was a visiting faculty member at the University of Milan- Bicocca (Italy) in the Fall 2017, and she served as a program reviewer for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) in 2020.

Dr. Trejos is married and has four adult daughters who work and study in different states in United States.