About Me
I grew up in Freiberg am Neckar, 15 miles North of Stuttgart, Germany. In Freiberg, I went to school from 1973 to 1986. After I graduated from high school ("Abitur"), I completed mandatory military service in the Air Transportation Squadron 61 in Penzing, Bavaria (1986-1987).
In the Fall of 1987, I began my undergraduate studies at the University of Bayreuth, Germany, and graduated in 1992 with a degree in Business Administration ("Diplom-Kaufmann"). In 1989, the Berlin Wall fell and I became a real-time witness to Germany's reunification and the revolutions in Central and Eastern Europe. Fascinated by the political and economic changes around me, I decided to study them in more detail. After I graduated from Bayreuth, I became a doctoral student and lecturer in the Economics Department of the Technical University in Ilmenau, located in the former socialist part of Germany. I received my PhD in Economics in 1997. In my doctoral thesis, I analyzed the political economy of reintegrating transformation economies into the world economy.
After receiving my doctorate, I held post-doc and junior faculty positions at the University of North Texas and the University of Nuremberg, Germany. In 2003, I joined the Economics faculty at the American University of Beirut, Lebanon. After eight years in Lebanon, I joined Kennesaw State University in 2011 where I have a dual appointment with the Department of Economics, Finance, and Quantitative Analysis and the School of Conflict Management, Peacebuilding, and Development.
Short Bio
Marcus Marktanner is Professor of Economics and International Conflict Management at Kennesaw State University. He holds a joint appointment in the Department of Economics, Finance, and Quantitative Analysis of the Coles College of Business and the PhD Program in International Conflict Management of the School of Conflict Management, Peacebuilding, and Development. He received his PhD from the Technical University of Ilmenau, Germany in 1997. In his doctoral thesis he examined the political economy of the economic transformation process of former socialist economies. Before joining the faculty of Kennesaw State University in June 2011, he held teaching and research positions in Lebanon, the USA, and Germany. His research focuses on comparative economics, economic development, and conflict economics. He has consulted the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), the World Food Program (WFP), and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). He also regularly contributes to the work of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation as an author and speaker on the topic of the Social Market Economy.