CAHNRS Faculty Feature: Alejandro (Alex) Prera

We asked several CAHNRS Ambassadors, excellent students who love WSU and their college, to name their favorite or most influential professors. And now we’re featuring those nominated educators in this weekly series, which runs through the summer.

Formal portrait photo of Alex Prera
Alex Prera

Today we’re showcasing Alex Prera, associate clinical professor in the School of Economic Sciences. Here are his answers to a few questions:

Where are you from?

Guatemala City, Guatemala.

Where did you go to school?

University of Nebraska, Lincoln (Bachelor’s), University of New Mexico, Albuquerque (Master’s and Ph.D.)

How did you become interested in your field?

My mother is a Ph.D. in Economics. Her hard work has always been an inspiration to me.

Why did you want to become a professor?

I started teaching as a graduate student and found that I liked it. It’s always great to bump into students outside the classroom.

What is your favorite thing about working with college students?

Every year they change. That means I have to change to keep up with their ever evolving preferences.

What advice would you pass along to students?

Take more math and stats. Regardless of your major, those are very important in the “real world.” If you want to figure things out, take economics. It is amazing how useful it is, especially in the business world. I worked at a private bank for about a year, and I wish I had taken more math, stats, and economics.