B. D. McCullough
Professor
Department of Decision Sciences
and
Department of Economics
(courtesy appointment)

proposed datamining course for B&E majors

Contact Information office: 230 Academic Building office hours (Fall 2007 & Winter 2008): by appointment only phone: (215) 895-2134 e-mail:  bdmccullough AT drexel DOT edu s-mail:  Dept. of Decision Sciences              LeBow College of Business              Drexel University              Philadelphia, PA 19104-2875

Education A.B. in Economics with distinction, Georgetown University, 1981 Ph.D. in Economics and University Fellow, University of Texas at Austin, 1989 Phi Kappa Phi Employment Assistant Professor of Economics, Fordham University, 1989-1994 Senior Economist, Federal Communication Commission, 1995-2000 Associate Professor of Decision Sciences, Drexel University, 2001-2006 (tenured 2003) Professor of Decision Sciences, Drexel University, 2006-present

Teaching Spring 2007: Data Mining for Managers (MBA course) Service member, College Strategic Planning Committee chairman, College of Business Task Force to Redesign Teaching Evaluations chairman, Department Personnel Committee

Research Associate Editor, International Journal of Forecasting (1999 - present) Associate Editor, Computational Statistics and Data Analysis (2003 - present) Associate Editor, Journal of Economic and Social Measurement (2004 - present) Associate Editor, Foundations and Trends in Econometrics (2005-present) Associate Editor, Computational Statistics (2005-present) For a list of my publications: click here. For a list of my working papers: click here.

Referee for: Acta Biotheoretica, American Economic Review, American Economist, American Journal of Agricultural Economics, American Political Science Review, BMC Medical Research Methodology, Computational Economics, Computational Statistics and Data Analysis, Computational Statistics, Econ Journal Watch, El Trimestre Economico (Mexico), European Journal of Operational Research, International Journal of Forecasting, Journal of Econometrics, Journal of Economic and Social Measurement, Journal of Environmental Quality, Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Journal of Forecasting, Journal of Industrial Economics, Journal of Quantitative Economics, Journal of Statistical Software, Mathematica Journal, National Science Foundation, Review of Accounting and Finance, The American Statistician

BOOKS FOR THE LAYMAN: My suggestions for learning more about the interplay between statistics, decision sciences, and business. These books are written for laymen, not for technical specialists. Moreover, they are all very well-written.

Innumeracy by John Allen Paulos
"Mathematical illiteracy and its consequences" is the focus of this timeless book. Many simple examples show common pitfalls in thinking about numbers and how to overcome them.

How We Know What Isn't So by Thomas Gilovich
"The fallibility of human reason in everyday life" but not just from a numerical perspective.

The Wisdom of Crowds by James Surowiecki
Under what conditions do groups of non-experts make better decisions than experts? When do committees make good decisions and when are they likely to produce groupthink nonsense? Make it a point to read Surowiecki's occasional column in New Yorker Magazine , which alone makes it worthwhile to subscribe to the magazine.

Thinking Strategically: The Competitive Edge in Business, Politics, and Everyday Life by Avinash K. Dixit and Barry J. Nalebuff
You don't need to know the mathematics behind the field of "game theory", but you need to know what game theory can do for you. What will your opponent/competitor do? What should you do in response? How to see through your opponent's strategy. Filled with examples from everyday life and business.

Fortune's Formula by William Poundstone
This engaging book tells the story of Kelly's Formula for asset allocation, starting with its roots in Shannon's theory of information transmission across noisy lines. Mobsters and racetracks; roulette, blackjack and Las Vegas Casinos; Michael Millken's junk bond operation and the implosion of the LTC Hedge Fund all play roles. For a light introduction to the quantification of Wall Street, this book is superb.

Moneyball by Michael Lewis
How did the use of simple statistics propel the Oakland A's from the cellar to the playoffs and do it more cheaply than other teams?

Fooled by Randomness by Nassim Taleb
An excellent book on statistics and financial markets.

The Black Swan by Nassim Taleb
Taleb should have stopped after the first book. Don't bother with this one.

Freakonomics by Levitt and Dubner.
At times entertaining, this book won't help you to apply economics in your personal life. Before you read this book, be sure to read the discerning reviews by Ariel Rubinstein ("Freak-Freakonomics", The Economists' Voice 3(9), 2006) and John DiNardo ("Freakonomics: Scholarship in the Service of Storytelling", American Law and Economics Review 8(3), 2006, 615-626)