Prof. Ronald Soligo began his career at Rice in 1967. Over the past forty years, his work has focused on a range of topics from international migration to market structures of the television industry. Most recently, his research has focused on international energy markets and U.S. energy policy and security. In recognition of this work, he was appointed a Baker Institute Rice Scholar in 2003. Working with Amy Myers Jaffe and Kenneth Medlock III, he has analyzed the market structure in the new gas economy and the role of inventories in oil market satiability. Soligo also has examined the present status and future prospects of energy and economic growth in less developed countries. With Dr. Medlock, Soligo developed an award-winning demand forecasting method. He has also engaged in a study to forecast future demand for gas as automobile technology develops.

Soligo recently participated in research on militarization of energy. He evaluated U.S. strategies in energy security and investigated the possibility of using military means to protect energy security once the market fails and system breaks down. Another ongoing research is on the role of the national oil company and the lack of response of international companies to the devaluation of U.S. dollar and increase in oil price.

Soligo enjoys teaching undergraduate students, supervising individual research as well as doing some collaborative research with his students. He has taught and coordinated Principles of Economics for years. He also teaches courses on the political economy of Latin America, law and economics, and comparative economic systems. He was awarded the distinguished faculty associate at Lovett College for 2005-06.