David Charles Colander (November 16, 1947 – December 4, 2023) was an American economist, and the Christian A. Johnson Distinguished Professor of Economics at Middlebury College. He is known for his study of the economics profession itself and socioeconomics. His books The Making of an Economist and its later edition, The Making of an Economist, Redux, have been called "essential reading for prospective graduate students". He has authored over 35 books and 100 articles on a wide variety of subjects. He has expressed interest in complexity economics. His latest work focuses on economic education, complexity, and the methodology appropriate to applied policy economics.
Colander received his Ph.D. from Columbia University and has taught at Columbia University, Vassar College, the University of Miami, and Princeton University as well as Middlebury College. In 2001–2002 he was the Kelley Professor for Distinguished Teaching at Princeton University. He has been president of both the Eastern Economic Association and History of Economic Thought Society and is, or has been, on the editorial boards of numerous journals, including Journal of Economic Perspectives and the Journal of Economic Education. He has also been a consultant to Time-Life Films, a consultant to Congress, a Brookings Policy Fellow, and a visiting scholar at Nuffield College, Oxford. He is listed in Who's Who?, Who's Who in Education?, etc. in 2017 he received The John R. Commons Award from Omicron Delta Epsilon, the economics honor society.
