Eric Golson

Eric Golson is the Deputy Head of Economics and Undergraduate Programme Director at the University of Surrey. As an economist with expertise in economic warfare, trade, finance and international political economy, Eric has travelled the world exploring complex economic warfare issues for governments and businesses. He has published most recently in International Finance regarding the effects of trade blockades on stock market performance, and previously in field journals in Economic History on economic warfare. He has co-authored three books on historical cases of economic warfare, small states and neutrality.

His current research interests include international trade warfare, business decision making during war, effectiveness of economic sanctions, military spending, and resource management in the context of war. An active member of two research clusters at Surrey: Centre for International Macroeconomic Studies (CIMS) within the School of Economics and the Centre for the Study of Global Power Competition (CGPC) within the Politics faculty, Eric was previously a Research Fellow at Oxford University from 2011-2016.

An award-winning Higher Education leader, Eric has an impressive track record in teaching and learning leadership, education policy, student experience, lecturing and assessment, long-term strategy. Promoted to Associate Professor in 2022, Eric is a leading advocate for diversity and inclusion, particularly in areas of neurodiversity such as dyslexia, ADHD and autism. He has won nine teaching awards and had twenty-six nominations in twelve years.

Eric is a natural problem solver: a people person, long-term planner and data-driven technology geek in equal measure, he believes the answer to most economics, business and finance problems can ultimately be found with the right framework and analytical tools. In this context, he has served on several long-term University project teams to transform systems and services.

Eric holds a PhD and PGCHE from the London School of Economics. He earned his BA and MA degrees from the University of Chicago. He is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and the Royal Historical Society for his work in Economic History.