Merl Hackbart is professor emeritus of finance and public administration at the Martin School at the University of Kentucky. With a B.S. in agricultural economics from South Dakota State University (1963), and a Ph.D. in economics from Kansas State University (1968), he held a faculty position at the University of Wyoming (1968-1972) before serving as South Dakota’s Director of Economic Analysis for the Planning Office (1972) and deputy secretary of the Department of Transportation (1973). In 1973, he joined the University of Kentucky as Director of the Center for Public Affairs and continued as director when it became the Martin School for Public Administration (1973-1982; 2012-2016), and board member of the Henry Clay Center. With a dual appointment with the business school, he served there as associate dean (2005-2011) and Interim Dean (2011-2012). For the Commonwealth of Kentucky, he served as a member of the Kentucky Council for Postsecondary Education and the Kentucky Consensus Revenue Forecasting Group, as well as Budget Director (1982-1983; 1989-1991) and as Senior Policy Advisor to the Governor (1998-2002), and on the Kentucky Public Pensions Authority (2021-2025). He is a past President of the ABFM (1999-2000) and recipient of ABFM’s 2007 Howard Award.