Gayle Allard
My name is Gayle Allard. I love my home state of California, but sometimes life takes its own path, and in my case, it brought me to Spain, where I’ve spent most of my adult life. I have completed two master’s degrees—one in Spanish and Literature, and another in International Relations—and a PhD in Economics, which is my true passion. I discovered my love for economics when I was at Johns Hopkins University studying for my undergraduate degree. The international relations program required us to take a full semester of economics courses in order to gain more marketable skills. What started out as a requirement became my passion and my profession. Along with that, I enjoy creating interactive tools and online educational games, which have won awards. However, my five children, now successful adults, are my greatest satisfaction.
“It’s not hard to be passionate about imparting such a fascinating topic to talented, diverse, international professionals.”
Bringing a human touch to finance and economics
Before joining the faculty at IE University more than 20 years ago, Gayle Allard began her professional trajectory as an economic and financial journalist for various channels, including The Economist, and later as a research economist for JP Morgan. During this time, she felt the need to communicate and research topics that she found important to human life, such as employment and economic development. This led her to begin teaching, which she now describes as her first love and “the best job in the world.”
Gayle teaches a variety of courses in the Master in Finance, an introductory course for the Master in Applied Economics programs at IE University, as well as many other courses outside of those programs. Her Managerial Economics course builds a foundation in micro- and macroeconomics and international economics, placing an emphasis on real-world applications in the business world. The objective, she says, is “for students to read the Financial Times in an intelligent and analytical way and to be able to do some very basic forecasting of trends that affect them, like the future of the dollar, for example.” She also co-teaches an elective called Country Economic/Risk Analysis, in which her students learn to evaluate risk and opportunity as investors.
Her passion for economics comes from the idea that economics dominates both our public and private lives. She wants her students to be able to evaluate economic problems in an intelligent, data-driven way, especially as this skill is a huge advantage for any line of work. She enjoys teaching courses related to finance and economics because they are practical, technical and prepare students for any profession.
Gayle also believes it’s important to bring a humanistic touch to her subject: much of her work focuses on economic development, immigration and labor markets. She holds a place in her heart for Africa after having traveled to Ethiopia to work on education and water projects. She now makes this trip every summer with MBA students, which she describes as “a life-changing experience for all of us.” Inspired by this work, she designed a course titled African Political Economy.
Gayle’s professional experience is impressive and varied, encompassing groundbreaking research into international labor policies, pioneering the innovative blended education format at IE University, and developing interactive teaching tools for her MOOCs. Gayle’s advice to students is to take advantage of every opportunity. She says that we can all become world-changers by making one quiet, ethical decision at a time.
