 Walsh moved to the University of California, Santa Cruz in 1987, becoming associate professor.Walsh was named full professor in 1991 and was named distinguished professor in 2010.Walsh has held visiting appointments at several institutions, including UC Berkeley economics department (visiting lecturer, 1979; visiting assistant professor, 1985), the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City (visiting scholar, 1982-1983), the International Finance Division of the Federal Reserve Board (visiting scholar, July 1984), the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia (visiting senior economist, 1984-1985), the UC Berkeley School of Business (visiting lecturer, 1986-1987), the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco (visiting scholar, 1987–present), and Stanford University (visiting professor, fall 1995).