Eric Chaing, professor-in-residence at University of Nevada-Las Vegas, will present the 2024 Paul J. Thomas Lecture titled “Game Theory and the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election” 6 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 16, in the Auditorium in the Williamson College of Business Administration at Youngstown State University.
The lecture is free and open to the public.
People use strategic thinking in daily life, whether in sports, work, or relationships, and political candidates are no different—they use strategic approaches to win elections, which is where game theory comes in. Game theory explains how people make decisions when their choices depend on others' actions. Chiang's lecture explores key concepts like the Nash equilibrium, different types of games such as the prisoner’s dilemma and chicken games, and how these ideas apply to elections and everyday decisions. How voting structures influence campaign strategies, with U.S. presidential candidates often appealing to the "average voter" due to the way general elections work will also be examined.
Chiang received his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Florida in 2002 and joined the faculty at Florida Atlantic University in 2003. Over his 20-year career at FAU, he served as the Director of Instructional Technology for the College of Business and taught over 18,000 students from Introductory to Ph.D.-level economics courses. In 2009, Eric won FAU’s Distinguished Teacher of the Year, the university’s top teaching award.
In 2023, he returned to his undergraduate alma mater, the University of Nevada Las Vegas, where he currently serves as Professor-in-Residence. Chiang has published 42 peer-reviewed journal articles and is the author of Economics: Principles for a Changing World, a textbook currently in use at 85 colleges and universities.
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