Photo by Chris Meyer “Ashton has a gift of making economics education enjoyable, relevant, and applicable in our personal lives and in today’s classroom.” —Nancy Horst, former student teacher at Hagerstown Elementary Schools

Since he came to IU East in 1977, Veramallay has worked to combat this form of illiteracy, and in turn, has become a lauded economic expert for IU and the Richmond community.

Through the Center for Economic Education, a teaching, research and development resource that he helped establish in 1978, Veramallay has improved the economic literacy of his community and woven an impressive web of connections, accomplishments that earned the center the Peter V. Harrington Award for Excellence in 2002. To date, he’s reached more than 1,000 teachers and, consequently, their students. He conducts workshops for pastors and labor leaders on money management, health care, aging and retirement to help them—and their parishioners and employees—understand their economic choices.

Because Veramallay’s achievements blur the lines between teaching, service and scholarship, it is difficult to distinguish where his role as economics professor ends and his community service begins. He has served on the boards of several philanthropic and community organizations including the American Red Cross Wayne/Union County Chapter, the United Way of Whitewater Valley, Junior Achievement of Eastern Indiana and the Small Business Development Center. He’s a member of the Reid Hospital Finance Authority, where he oversees an investment portfolio of more than $125 million. And, as a founding member of the Habitat for Humanity of Greater Richmond, he is as likely to be found swinging a hammer as he is teaching new homeowners how to budget their resources.

In the words of Greg Braxton-Brown, chair of IU East’s Division of Business, Economics, Systems and Technology, Veramallay “is simply everywhere, doing what he does best—looking for a way to help.”