Colin Harris
Tomson Family Chair and Associate Professor
St. Olaf College
Colin Harris is the Tomson Family Chair and associate professor of law and economics at St. Olaf College, book-review editor at Public Choice, and an academic affiliate of the International Center for Law & Economics (ICLE).
His research focuses on law & economics, property rights, and political economy, including the governance of institutions and collective-action problems.
At St. Olaf College, Harris has served as associate professor and previously as assistant professor of law and economics. Earlier, he was a graduate lecturer at George Mason University, where he taught economics and law & economics courses.
Harris is the co-author of the book “The Origins and Consequences of Property Rights” (with Meina Cai, Ilia Murtazashvili, and Jennifer Murtazashvili).
He received the Elinor Ostrom Prize for the best full-length article in the Journal of Institutional Economics and held a dissertation fellowship and multiple graduate fellowships through the Mercatus Center’s F.A. Hayek Program in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics. He also received a Humane Studies Fellowship from the Institute for Humane Studies.
Harris earned a Ph.D. in economics and a master’s in economics from George Mason University and a bachelor’s from Florida State University.
