Written by Celesia Smith.
Peter Huang
Majors: Canfield BHP, Finance, Math, Economics, Plan II
Area of Research: Behavioral, Entrepreneurship in Austin, Global Economy & Development
Topics of Interest: Playing and watching soccer, curating Spotify playlists, macroeconomics, podcasts
For some students, research is a way to hone in on a particular career path or develop a specific skill. For others, it serves as an opportunity to diversify one’s knowledge and expand interests. Regardless, research remains a terrific way to get involved with the university. Peter Huang, a senior majoring in Canfield BHP, Finance, Math, Economics, and Plan II, is the latter kind of student– one who enjoys putting his eggs in various baskets.
During his time at UT, Peter has served in an array of research roles alongside numerous professors, business and non-business alike. In the summer after his sophomore year, Peter elected to conduct unique research alongside finance professor Sam Kruger and IC² Institute’s Professor Elsie Echeverri-Carroll.
“Professor Kruger was working on this really interesting research question. He was basically trying to test if people who commit infidelity are also likely to have more instances of professional misconduct in the workplace,” Peter said. “He tested that by looking at Ashley Madison’s data. Ashley Madison is this dating site that advertises itself as a way to have an affair if you’re married. Back in 2015, there was a big data leak led by hackers who released details on people who had created accounts on the website. Professor Kruger and I took those details and tried to identify the places that those people worked at and then identify, on average, if they too have higher rates of misconduct than people who had comparable occupations, but did not have an account on that site.” Continue reading