In planning his fall classes, Dirk Early is forced to account for something he has not yet had to deal with during his eight years at Southwestern--fatherhood.

Just how this first child (a son due in late August) will affect his teaching, he can only guess. "I imagine it might mean fewer graded assignments," he says only half-joking. "It will be a challenge juggling things that are important to me, raising a child and my teaching and research." He plans to take paternity leave in the spring, but will still be working closely with a few individual students on their projects and spend some time on his research.

Early is currently putting the finishing touches on the research he performed while on sabbatical this past spring. The research focuses on the homeless and how well current housing programs target this group. "I traveled to UC-Berkeley to use census microdata on the homeless, and I'm hoping to get a few articles published out of this research."

It's a subject he originally used for his dissertation. "I always had an interest in programs that aided the poor. In college, I ran across articles on housing markets and how they related to the homeless. I thought that I could do more intensive research than what was being done."

Balancing his research with a full teaching load has been a challenge for Early, although a Brown Research Fellowship and Mundy Faculty Research Fellowship have certainly helped. "I think research and teaching go hand-in-hand. I often bring my research into my classes. You can do it here at Southwestern even with our teaching load, but I think more of an emphasis could be placed on research."

Early's teaching has certainly not suffered at the hands of his research. In fact, he was recently honored with a student-nominated Southwestern University Teaching Award. The award is given each year to one tenured and one non-tenured faculty member. "I certainly don't feel worthy," he says. "There are many great teachers here and that a student would write a letter to nominate me means a lot."

A native of Ohio, Early attended Miami University in Oxford intent on going to law school. He majored in economics only because he'd heard it was a good pre-law major. But the more he learned, the more he liked the "logical approach of economics. I liked the tools, the rigor and how they can be applied to nearly any problem."

With his focus changed, he went on to earn his M.A. and Ph.D. in economics from the University of Virginia, where he got his first teaching experience. "It was wonderful. I got to talk about exactly what I wanted to talk about."

He spent a year as a visiting professor at Carlton College in Minnesota, which he says sold him on the idea of teaching at a liberal arts school. "I enjoyed the small classes and the interaction with strong students."

Early and his spouse, Xiao-Ling Huang, have been married for eight years. Xiao-Ling is a researcher for the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. At home, they have a dog, Splash (who loves to visit campus), and a well-fed cat, Irving.

As someone who enjoys being outdoors, Early spent part of last winter break camping at Lake Powell. "I've always enjoyed trips like that. I try to do one every summer." Recently he's become interested in whitewater canoeing and has joined the Austin Paddling Club. "It may sound like something weird, but I assure you it is just a canoeing club!"