Dek Terrell is a professor of economics and Director of the Center for Economics, Business and Policy Research at LSU, where he has spent three decades leading applied research projects focused primarily on improving the lives of the citizens of Louisiana. He grew up in Mississippi and earned a B.S. in Mathematics and Economics from Millsaps College in 1986 and a Ph.D. in Economics from Duke University in 1991. He spent five years on the faculty of Kansas State University before arriving at LSU.