Omer Ozak is an Associate Professor of Economics at Southern Methodist University. He studied Economics (B.S., Summa Cum Laude) and Mathematics (M.S., Summa Cum Laude) at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia and got his Ph.D. in Economics from Brown University. His research explores the deep historical origins and long-run consequences of some of the most fundamental cultural, human, and economic characteristics at the roots of contemporary comparative economic development across countries, regions, and ethnic groups. Specifically, he studies how the interaction of bio-geographical, cultural, institutional, and technological factors have determined the evolution of societies in the course of human history.