Simon Ruhnke

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Graduate Student at University of Utah
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Simon Ruhnke is a fourth-year Ph.D. student in economics at the University of Utah. Originally from Germany, his interest in immigration policy arose during his work in the German parliament during the height of the European “refugee crisis” in 2015. In his dissertation research, Simon uses quantitative research methods to study how their social and institutional environment impacts the health and well-being of immigrants in the U.S. He specifically focuses on the vulnerable population of undocumented immigrants, who find themselves in a, particularly exclusionary environment. Simon has taught both graduate and undergraduate classes in Poverty & Inequality and Health Economics and is a research fellow of the Health Economics Core of the University of Utah. He received his B.A. in economics and philosophy from the University of Göttingen and an M.Sc. in economics from the University of Utah.