By Xhaxany Cuellar, Editor in Chief
Professor Danny Taylor began his teaching career many years before being recruited at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. He attended New Mexico State University in Las Cruces and earned his bachelor's degree in economics. Later he went into a Masters of Science Program and earned a degree in agricultural economics and soon began teaching economics at the age of 22 at the Alamogordo branch of New Mexico State University.
Twenty Seven years later, after being recommended by his roommate Mike Fabritius, Taylor was recruited to UMHB. At the end of his first year, the student government presented him with its faculty of the year award. He has traveled with international students to Costa Rica, Canada and Europe. His favorite trip was to Canada in March of 2011 –, when the group went to Niagara Falls; the nation’s largest private-sector bank in Toronto; visited with the owners and managers of the National Hockey League Ottawa Senators; went to The Central Bank and The Mexican Consulate;, and enjoyed a visit with an economics professor at McGill University.
Outside of his academic career, Taylor enjoys the Christian fellowship that he and his family have at Belton Church of Christ. He attends the church with his wife Yvonee and two adopted sons. He has three biological of his own, Jamila the youngest, Dustin the oldest and Jerico the middle child. All three children were raised in New Mexico and in 1999, Jerico graduated high school and enlisted.
On his way home to see his family from Fort Riley, Kansas, Jerico left this world at the age of 19. The anniversary of his death is twenty five years ago this month (Feb. 2025). “Many times over the years, I had heard someone say to someone else, well, you look like you lost your Best Friend. I never really got that, until our son died and went to Heaven . I felt like we were on the verge of becoming best friends.” said Taylor.
During Jerico's funeral preparations, Taylor was asked if his son had a favorite Bible verse, “Every once in a while, I might have been fussing at him and or his brother, and I would quote Ecclesiastes 9:10, which says, “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might. And it got to where he could finish that”. I'd start in and he would finish it with a grin on his face. I can't tell you the number of his friends who said that was him, whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might. So if that wasn't my favorite verse before, it has been ever since.
In addition to his family, Taylor enjoys his various hobbies such as music and sports. As a former DJ he stated, “ I kept up with hip hop through the early 2000s. It kind of left me behind, but I still pay some attention to hip hop. My expertise is in the 50s, 60s and 70s. That's because I'm old., ” His favorite song is “The End” by the Beatles.
He also enjoys taking his two boys to Cru baseball games because according to Taylor, “It used to be that a disproportionate percentage of economists were baseball fans, and that's because economics is like baseball, in that you really have to read between the lines.” He enjoys the sociological aspects of the game and has even considered writing a book entitled “Everything I Need to Know. I Learned from Baseball”.
He stated if hadn't gone into teaching he'd fancy himself a baseball journalist or a play-by-play announcer., Realistically, however, “I can’t imagine myself doing anything other than what I was called to do for 50 years,” Taylor said.
