The Aaron and Cherie Raznick Endowed Chair in Economics was established through a generous gift from Aaron and Cherie Raznick.

The Aaron and Cherie Raznick Endowed Chair enhances a Department of Economics faculty position by providing funds that support teaching, public service, research and summer salary. This gift brings visibility to the College of Letters and Science and to the Economics Department by allowing UC Santa Barbara to recruit a distinguished scholar who is nationally and internationally recognized for his/her research and teaching.

Aaron Raznick is Chairman and CEO of Raznick & Sons, Inc., a successful residential and commercial building firm established by Aaron's father in 1930. Two of the Raznick's children, Stephen and Luanne, attended UCSB. Aaron and Cherie are Honorary Alumni ('88) who are extremely active with the UCSB rowing team, with alumni activities and with the UCSB Foundation where Aaron has served as a Trustee.

The current chair holder is Professor Theodore Bergstrom, whose research on the relation of economics and evolutionary biology, with special attention to the economics of the family, the evolution of altruism and rivalry between siblings, parent-offspring conflicts, marriage institutions, inheritance, and care for the aged, has appeared in major journals including the following:
"On the Evolution of Altruistic Ethical Rules for Siblings," American Economic Review, 1995.
"Income Prospects and Age of Marriage," (with Robert Schoeni), Journal of Population Economics, 1996.
"Economics in a Family Way," Journal of Economic Literature, 1996.
"A Survey of Theories of the Family" in Handbook of Population Economics, edited by Mark Rosenzweig and Oded Stark, North Holland, 1997.