Distinguished Professor of Economics Kajal Lahiri is an expert on economic forecasting and applied econometrics. He developed the Transportation Services Index that Norman Mineta, U.S. Secretary of Transportation, announced as "an exciting, new way to track the transportation industry's huge impact on America's growing economy," when Mineta rang the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange on Jan. 29, 2004. BusinessWeek magazine hailed the index in an analysis, saying it "should become a new crystal ball for economists and investors to peer into." In 2004, Lahiri was given the Excellence in the Pursuit of Knowledge Award from the Research Foundation of the State University of New York (SUNY). Over the past two decades, Lahiri's development of statistical methods to study economics and related subjects has had wide-ranging policy applications. His health-related studies include efficiency and productivity measurement in hospitals and health centers. Lahiri earned his doctorate from the University of Rochester and is a professor of Economics, Biometry & Statistics, and Health Policy & Management. He is also director of the Econometrics Research Institute at UAlbany.