Powerlist – Iris Buder – Idaho State University

Iris Buder knew from a young age that she wanted to pursue a PhD. She shared that while she didn’t know much about economics when going into college, she quickly fell in love with the subject during her undergraduate studies ― specifically labor economics. While pursuing her graduate degree at the University of Utah, she began teaching and that became another passion that she decided to pursue as a career.

Buder explained English isn’t her first language and has actively sought ways to challenge herself to practice writing and public speaking.

In 2015, she began work at Idaho State University, working for five years as an assistant professor of economics. In 2020, she stepped into the role of associate professor of economics, served as the department chair of economics and finance for two years, and last year, assumed the role of associate dean of the college of business and the Master of Healthcare Administration program.

Buder’s duties are varied, but staying involved with research is still very important to her.

“My most significant recent professional accomplishment has been working as an economic consultant for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation,” she said. “For this project, we are analyzing time-use allocation in a number of low- to middle-income countries, with a particular focus on the gender differences in the distribution of time. Our findings hope to inform how time-use analyses can be utilized in macroeconomic policymaking. We hope that we will glean more information from this important work for policy implications.”