By George Lewis

The SEA sponsors an annual research conference and publishes a scholarly journal. As president-elect, Toma will organize next year's conference.

Lexington, Ky. (Dec. 20, 2002) -- Eugenia Toma, director of the University of Kentucky Martin School of Public Policy and Administration, has been selected by her peers as president-elect of the Southern Economic Association (SEA), comprised largely of academic economists from the Southeast.

The SEA sponsors an annual research conference and publishes a scholarly journal. As president-elect, Toma will organize next year's conference.

The Martin School is ranked fifth in the country for its public finance and budgeting program by U.S. News & World Report. The magazine lists the Martin School as 31st overall out of some 250 public and private universities.

Toma holds a doctorate in economics from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and a bachelor's degree in economics from UK. Her areas of academic specialization include political economy, economics of education and public economics.