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Economists Harvard Transcript

Harvard. Application for PhD candidacy. Arthur Eli Monroe, 1915

 

The graduate school records of Arthur Eli Monroe (A.B., 1908; A.M., 1914; Ph.D., 1918) are reasonably complete, allowing us to follow the course of his graduate studies and learn some details regarding his satisfaction of the Ph.D. requirements at Harvard. He did stay at his alma mater for his entire career, with his academic high-water mark attained at the rank of assistant professor of economics from 1922-28. He was able to occupy an instructional niche as lecturer-tutor, which is pretty good considering he entered graduate school in economics after doing what he could to avoid the subject during his college years.

Tutor, 1915-1923
Instructor in Economics, 1916-22
Assistant Professor of Economics, 1922-28
Lecturer on and tutor (Kirkland House) in economics beginning in 1928 through his retirement sometime in the 1950’s.

For historians of economics Monroe’s 1924 edited volume Early Economic Thought: Selections from Economic Literature Prior to Adam Smith is a useful collection of bite-sized chunks of original texts, though current students of economics might possibly choke on Monroe’s servings.

_______________________

From Reports of the Harvard College Class of 1908

ARTHUR ELI MONROE
[1914]

After spending half a year in looking for a job, and four years and a half in working at it, I withdrew from the teaching profession, which had occupied me continuously, and strenuously at Kent School, Kent, Conn., to enter the Harvard Graduate School. Since leaving college, I had become interested in Economics. This has been the subject of my work this year, and I hope to continue it at Harvard next year. Member: Phi Beta Kappa.

Source: Harvard College, Class of 1908. Secretary’s Second Report, Sexennial Celebration, June 1914, p. 233.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

ARTHUR ELI MONROE
[1918]

Born: West Brookfield, Mass., Aug. 2, 1885.
Parents: Eli Monroe, Louise Octavia Arsino.
School: High School, Brookfield, Mass.
Degrees: A.B., 1908; A.M., 1914; Ph.D., 1918.
Occupation: Teacher.
Address: 56 Thayer Hall, Cambridge, Mass.

After graduation I taught Latin and German in a boys boarding school (Kent School, Kent, Conn.), until June, 1913, when I returned to Harvard for graduate work in economics, a subject I had carefully avoided in college. The next year I was appointed assistant in economics in Harvard College, to which was later added a tutorship. In January, 1916, I went to Williams College, to substitute for Professor McLaren, remaining until the end of the college year. I have been at Harvard since then, as instructor and tutor.

Source: Harvard College, Class of 1908. Secretary’s Third Report, Decennial Report, April 1920, p. 334.

_______________________

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS

Application for Candidacy for the Degree of Ph.D.

[Note: Boldface used to indicate printed text of the application; italics used to indicate the handwritten entries]

I. Full Name, with date and place of birth.

Arthur Eli Monroe. West Brookfield, Mass. Aug. 2, 1885.

II. Academic Career: (Mention, with dates inclusive, colleges or other higher institutions of learning attended; and teaching positions held.)

Harvard College, Sept. 1904 – June 1908
Harvard Graduate School. Arts & Sciences, Sept. 1913 –
Teacher, Latin and German, Kent School. 1909 – 1913

III. Degrees already attained. (Mention institutions and dates.)

A.B. [magna cum laude] (Harvard) 1908
A.M. (Harvard) 1914

IV. General Preparation. (Indicate briefly the range and character of your undergraduate studies in History, Economics, Government, and in such other fields as Ancient and Modern Languages, Philosophy, etc.)

French 2c, 6, 9
German A, 1a, 4, 6, H, 32b, 9
Latin B, 1, E
Greek B, E

V. Department of Study. (Do you propose to offer yourself for the Ph.D., “History,” in “Economics,” or in “Political Science”?)

Economics

VI. Choice of Subjects for the General Examination. (State briefly the nature of your preparation in each subject, as by Harvard courses, courses taken elsewhere, private reading, teaching the subject, etc., etc.)

  1. Economic Theory & Its History.
    Economics 11, 7, 14, Reading
    Assistant in Economics A
  2. Economic History since 1750.
    Economics 2a, 2b, Reading
  3. Public Finance.
    Economics 31
  4. Statistical Method & its Application.
    Economics 13
  5. History of Political Theory.
    Private Reading
  6. Special field to be a suitable portion of the field of the History of Economic Thought

VII. Special Subject for the special examination.

Some topic in the History of American Economic Thought

VIII. Thesis Subject. (State the subject and mention the instructor who knows most about your work upon it.)

Professor Bullock

IX. Examinations. (Indicate any preferences as to the time of the general and special examinations.)

General Examination, Autumn, 1915

X. Remarks

[Left blank]

Signature of a member of the Division certifying approval of the above outline of subjects.

[signed] Charles J. Bullock

*   *   *   [Last page of application] *   *   *

[Not to be filled out by the applicant]

Name: A. E. Monroe

Approved: May 28, 1915

Ability to use French certified by F. W. Taussig

Ability to use German certified by F. W. Taussig

Date of general examination 13 October 1915. Passed [per W.C.W.]

Thesis received [Left blank]

Read by [Left blank]

Approved [Left blank]

Date of special examination 20 May 1918. Passed 

Recommended for the Doctorate[left blank]

Degree conferred  [left blank]

Remarks.  [left blank]

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Record of ARTHUR ELI MONROE in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences of Harvard University

1913-14

 

Economics 2a1 [half course]
[European Industry and Commerce in the Nineteenth Century, Prof. Gay]		 B
Economics 2b2 [half course]
[Economic and Financial History of the United States, Prof. Gay]		 B minus
Economics 7
[Theories of Distribution and Distributive Justice, Asst. Prof. Anderson]		 A
Economics 11
[Economic Theory, Prof. Taussig]		 A
Economics 31
[Public Finance, Prof. Bullock]		 A
1914-15
Economics 13
[Statistics: Theory, Method, and Practice, Asst. Prof. Day]		 A
Economics 14
[History and Literature of Economics to the year 1848, Prof. Bullock]		 A
1915-16
Economics 20e (2 co. [courses?])
[Economic Research (American Taxation and Finance; History of Economic Thought, Prof. Bullock]		 AA
1916-17
Economics 20e (2 co.) [courses?])
[Economic Research (American Taxation and Finance; History of Economic Thought, Prof. Bullock]		 AA
1917-18
Economics 20
[Economic Research (for Ph.D. candidates)]		 A

Note: A transcript can also be found in Harvard University Archives, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Record Cards of Students, 1895-1930, Marks—Neville (UAV 161.2722.5). File I, Box 10, Record Card of Arthur Eli Monroe.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Certification of reading knowledge of French and German

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics

F. W. Taussig
T. N. Carver
W. Z. Ripley
C. J. Bullock
E. F. Gay
W. M. Cole
O. M. W. Sprague
E. E. Day
B. M. Anderson, Jr.
H. L. Gray

Cambridge, Massachusetts
April 28, 1915.

Dear Haskins:

I hereby certify that A. E. Monroe has reading knowledge of French and German such as is required for the Ph.D. degree.

Sincerely yours,
[signed] F. W. Taussig

Dean C. H. Haskins

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Approval of Ph.D. Plan of Study
[Carbon copy]

4 June 1915

Dear Mr. Monroe:

At a meeting on May 28 the Division of History, Government, and Economics voted to approve your plan of study for your degree of Doctor of Philosophy.

Very truly yours,
[unsigned]

Mr. A. E. Monroe

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Committee named for the General Exam
[Carbon copy]

[Note: identical copies were sent to Professors Gay, Taussig, Day, Holcombe]

4 October 1915.

Dear Professor Bullock:

Will you kindly serve as one of the committee for the General Examination in Economics of Arthur E. Munroe, Wednesday, October 13, at 4 P. M.? The committee consists of Professors Bullock (Chairman), Taussig, Gay, Day, and Holcombe.

Mr. Muroe’s subjects are: Economic Theory and Its History, Economic History since 1750, Public Finance, Statistical Method and its Application, History of Political Theory, and a special field to be a suitable portion of the field of the History of Economic Thought.

Mr. Munroe has decided upon Public Finance and Statistics. Will you kindly see that the papers are set and the written examination held a reasonable time in advance of the oral?

Very sincerely yours,
[unsigned]

Professor C. J. Bullock.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Time and Place of General Exam
[Carbon copy]

9 October 1915

My dear Mr. Monroe:

Your examination, Wednesday, October 13, will be held in Widener U at 4 P.M.

Yours very truly,
[initials of Dean Haskins added]
C. H. H.

Mr. A. E. Monroe

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Passed General Exam

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics

F. W. Taussig
T. N. Carver
W. Z. Ripley
C. J. Bullock
E. F. Gay
W. M. Cole
O. M. W. Sprague
E. E. Day
B. M. Anderson, Jr.

Cambridge, Massachusetts
October 14, 1915.

My dear Haskins:

Mr. A. E. Monroe passed his general examination for the doctor’s degree in Economics on October 18th. He passed creditably in all subjects except History of Political Theory, in which his examination was not satisfactory; but the instructor thought should not stand in his way if the other subjects were good.
His written examinations in Public Finance and Statistics were of A quality, and his oral examination in the other economic subjects was thoroly satisfactory.

Sincerely yours,
[signed] Charles J. Bullock

Dean C. H. Haskins.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Special Exam Field
[carbon copy]

25 January 1917

Dear Mr. Monroe:
At its meeting last Tuesday the Division of History, Government, and Economics voted to approve, as your special field, the History of Economic Thought to 1776, with special reference to the period subsequent to 1500.

Sincerely yours,
[unsigned copy]

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Passed Special Exam

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics

F. W. Taussig
T. N. Carver
W. Z. Ripley
C. J. Bullock
E. F. Gay
W. M. Cole
O. M. W. Sprague
E. E. Day
B. M. Anderson, Jr.
J. S. Davis
H. H. Burbank

Cambridge, Massachusetts
May 21, 1918.

My dear Haskins:

I wish to report that yesterday Mr. A. E. Monroe passed his special examination for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Mr. Monroe passed an unusually good examination which was from every point of view thoroly satisfactory.

Sincerely yours,
[signed] Charles J. Bullock

Dean C. H. Haskins

Source: Harvard University Archives. Division of History, Government, and Economics. Ph.D. exams and records of candidates, study plans, lists, etc. pre-1911-1942. Box 3. Folder “Ph.D. Applications.”

_______________________

Ph.D. Dissertation

Arthur Eli Monroe’s 1918 Ph.D. thesis “The Theory of Money before 1776” was revised and published as Monetary theory before Adam Smith as number 25 of the Harvard Economic Studies (1923).

Image Source: At least as early as 1923, this portrait of Arthur Eli Monroe is found in the Harvard Class Albums. This portrait clipped from the 1925 Class Album and colorized by Economics in the Rear-view Mirror.

Categories
Economists Harvard Transcript

Harvard. Application for PhD candidacy. James Waterhouse Angell, 1921

The empirical questions behind most of the collection of archival artifacts found here at Economics in the Rear-view Mirror can be reduced to i) what was being taught ii) who was teaching it, and iii) what was the pattern of the courses actually taken by young economists. These artifacts can be thought of as occupying cell(s) in a matrix of year by academic institution, e.g. this post deals with question (iii) and will be filed in the Harvard, early 1920’s cell.

James Waterhouse Angell (1898-1986) was a Harvard and Chicago trained economist who joined the Columbia faculty upon receiving his Ph.D. from Harvard in 1924. He was a member of Columbia’s faculty for over forty years, interrupted by government service during World War II at the War Production Board and the Foreign Economics Administration.  More about his life and career can be read in his New York Times obituary (April 1, 1986)

With this post we have the record for Angell in Harvard’s Division of History, Government, and Economics. It provides us with a wealth of information about his academic training. There will be a flow of such records for other graduate students that promises to match the flow of syllabi and exams, the stock of which constitute the core of archival material.

 You  should subscribe to Economics in the Rear-view Mirror if you are working on the history of economics. To do so scroll down (or search “Subscribe” on this page from your web browser).

_______________________

Autobiographical snippet

Angell’s personal statement in the 25th year anniversary report of the Harvard Class of 1918

_______________________

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS

Application for Candidacy for the Degree of Ph.D.

[Note: Boldface used to indicate printed text of the application; italics used to indicate the handwritten entries]

I. Full Name, with date and place of birth.

James Waterhouse Angell. May 20, 1898. Chicago.

II. Academic Career: (Mention, with dates inclusive, colleges or other higher institutions of learning attended; and teaching positions held.)

Undergraduate: Harvard 1914-18. Graduate: University of Chicago, March 1919-June 1920; Harvard, September 1920-date. Teaching: Assistant in Economics, Univ. of Chicago, October 1919-June 1920.

III. Degrees already attained. (Mention institutions and dates.)

A.B. Harvard, 1918. [magna cum laude]

IV. General Preparation. (Indicate briefly the range and character of your undergraduate studies in History, Economics, Government, and in such other fields as Ancient and Modern Languages, Philosophy, etc.) In case you are a candidate for the degree in History, state the number of years you have studied preparatory and college Latin.)

History. Harvard: Hist. A, 30a. Government. Univ. of Chicago: Elementary Comp. Govt. Economics. Harvard: Economics A, 2a, 2b, 4b, 5a, 5b. Univ. of Chicago: Labor Problems, Money and Banking, Statistics.

Greek: Harvard: Greek G, A, 2, 8. Latin. Harvard: Latin B, 8. French. Harvard: French 2. Philosophy. Univ. of Chicago: Social and Political Philosophy. Psychology. Harvard: Psychology A, Univ. of Chicago: Social Psychology.

V. Department of Study. (Do you propose to offer yourself for the Ph.D., “History,” in “Economics,” or in “Political Science”?)

Economics

VI. Choice of Subjects for the General Examination. (State briefly the nature of your preparation in each subject, as by Harvard courses, courses taken elsewhere, private reading, teaching the subject, etc., etc.)

  1. Economic Theory and Its History. Harvard: Economics A, 11, 14; Univ. of Chicago: History of Econ. Thought. Teaching: Univ. of Chicago: 2 quarters of elementary theory, 1920.
  2. Economic History since 1750. Harvard: Economics 2a and 2b.
  3. Public Finance. Harvard: Economics 5a, 5b, 31
  4. Money and Banking. Harvard: Economics 38. Univ. of Chicago: Elementary Money & Banking. Also private reading.
  5. International Trade and Tariff Policy. Harvard: Economics 33; and private reading.
  6. [Constitutional] History of the U.S., 1789-1914. Univ. of Chicago. 3 quarters of graduate study. (A. D. Mr. Laughlin)

VII. Special Subject for the special examination.

Special subject either Economic Theory or Public Finance; to be specified later. Money and Banking

VIII. Thesis Subject. (State the subject and mention the instructor who knows most about your work upon it.)

International Price Levels (With Professors Taussig and Young)

IX. Examinations. (Indicate any preferences as to the time of the general and special examinations.)

General: Last week in October, 1921.

X. Remarks

[Left blank]

Signature of a member of the Division certifying approval of the above outline of subjects.

[signed] Edmund E. Day

*   *   *   [Last page of application] *   *   *

[Not to be filled out by the applicant]

Name: James W. Angell

Approved: April 29, 1921

Ability to use French certified by Charles J. Bullock. 10 March, 1922 B.S.M.

Ability to use German certified by Charles J. Bullock, 10 March, 1922 B.S.M.

Date of general examination June 2, 1922 Passed A.A.Y.

Thesis received Oct. 15, 1923

Read by Professors Taussig, Young, and Persons

Approved October 29, 1921

Date of special examination Thursday, March 6, 1924. Passed A.A. Young 

Recommended for the Doctorate[left blank]

Degree conferred  [left blank]

Remarks.  [left blank]

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Record of James Waterhouse Angell in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences of Harvard University

1920-21
Economics 11.
[Economic Theory, Prof. Taussig]		 A
Economics 14
[History and Literature of Economics to the year 1848, Prof. Bullock]		 A minus
Economics 31
[Public Finance, Prof. Bullock]		 A
Economics 331 [half course]
[International Trade and Tariff Problems, Prof. Taussig]		 A
Economics 382 [half course]
[Selected Monetary Problems, Prof. Young]		 A
Attained the degree of Master of Arts.
1921-22
Economics 20 (F.W.T.)
[Economic Research (for Ph.D. candidates)]		 A

Note: A transcript can also be found in Harvard University Archives, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Record Cards of Students, 1895-1930, Aab—Belcher (UAV 161.2722.5). File I, Box 1, Record Card of James Waterhouse Angell.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Committee on Economic Research
Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.A.
Charles J. Bullock, Chairman

Charles F. Adams
Nicholas Biddle
Frederic H. Curtiss
Wallace B. Donham
Ogden L. Mills
Eugene V. R. Thayer

W.M. Persons, Editor
Review of Economic Statistics

J.B. Hubbard, Editor
Harvard Economic Service

F.Y. Presley
General Manager

March 10, 1922.

Professor Charles H. Haskins,
23 University Hall,
Cambridge, Mass.

This is to certify that I have examined Mr. J. W. Angell and find that he has such a knowledge of French and German as we require of candidates for the doctor’s degree.

[signed] Charles J. Bullock

CJB/AMB

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS

Cambridge, Massachusetts
6 June 1922

I beg to report that Mr. James W. Angell passed the General Examination in Economics held on Friday, 2 June. Mr. Angell’s examination clearly earned a pass, but it is proper to say that the examination was not as distinguished and the margin was not as large as Mr. Angell’s brilliant course record indicated it would be.

[signed by D.C. for] Allyn A. Young

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

[Carbon copy]

26 February 1924

My dear Professor Young:

We are arranging J.W. Angell’s special examination for Thursday, 6 March, at 4 p.m. I will let you know the place later. The committee will consist of Professors Taussig, Williams, Sprague, and yourself as chairman.

Very truly yours,
Secretary of the Division.

Professor A. A. Young

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS

Cambridge, Massachusetts
March 7, 1924

Dear Haskins:

On behalf of the committee appointed to conduct the special examination of Mr. J. W. Angell, I beg to report that Mr. Angell successfully passed the examination. I may add that the examination as a whole was unusually satisfactory.

Very truly yours,
[signed by k. for] Allyn A. Young

Dean C. H. Haskins

Source: Harvard University Archives. Division of History, Government, and Economics. Ph.D. exams and records of candidates, study plans, lists, etc. pre-1911-1942. Box 5. Folder “J. W. Angell.”

_______________________

Annotated Typescript for
Division of History, Government, and Economics
Examinations for the Degree of Ph.D. 1923-1924
JAMES WATERHOUSE ANGELL.

SPECIAL EXAMINATION in Economics, passed. Thursday, March 6, 1924.

GENERAL EXAMINATION passed June 2, 1922.

ACADEMIC HISTORY: Harvard College, 1914-18; University of Chicago, March, 1919, to June, 1920; Harvard Graduate School, 1920-23. A.B., 1918; A.M., 1921. Assistant in Economics, University of Chicago, 1919-20; Tutor in the Division of History, Government, and Economics, Harvard, 1921-22; Frederick Sheldon Travelling Fellow, Harvard, 1922-23; Instructor in Economics and Tutor in the Division of History, Government, and Economics, Harvard, 1923-4.

GENERAL SUBJECTS: 1. Economic Theory and Its History. 2. Economic History since 1750. 3. Public Finance. 4. Money and Banking. 5. International Trade and Tariff Policy. 6. American History since 1789.

SPECIAL SUBJECT: Money and Banking.

COMMITTEE: Professors Young (chairman), Taussig, Williams,
and Sprague.

THESIS SUBJECT: The Theory of International Prices and its History.

COMMITTEE ON THESIS: Professors Taussig, Young, and Persons.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Division of History, Government, and Economics. Ph.D. exams and records of candidates, study plans, lists, etc. pre-1911-1942. Box 5. Unmarked Envelope/Folder

_______________________

Image Source:  James Waterhouse Angell’s July 18, 1922 U.S. passport application. National Archives.

 

Categories
Economists Germany Public Finance Transcript

Germany. Wolfgang Stolper’s Seminarschein for a public finance seminar. Schumpeter, 1932

Back in the day before German universities began awarding Bachelor and Master degrees instead of their historical Diplom and Magister degrees (a process initiated in August 2002 and essentially completed by 2010), German students collected their certificates seminar-by-seminar, signed by their instructors, that together constituted their entry tickets required for degree examinations. I began teaching in a German university (Freie Universität Berlin) in 1994 and have signed such “Seminarscheine” for my students. The printed fonts had changed and typed insertions replaced hand-written ones, but the Scheine themselves were essentially identical to those used by earlier generations.

Below we have the image of the Seminarschein obtained by Wolfgang Stolper who attended Joseph Schumpeter’s advanced seminar in public finance in 1932. Official course transcripts are of considerable informational value but when it comes to antiquarian charm, I’ll take a stack of Seminarscheine any day over a registrar’s one page (stamped) transcript.

__________________________________

Stolper’s Seminarschein
for a Schumpeter seminar
in Bonn, 1932

Staatswissenschaftliches Seminar
der Universität Bonn

Bonn, den 26 Juli 1932
Herr Wolfgang Stolper hat im Sommer-Winterhalbjahr 1932 an meinem finanzwissenschaftlichen Vollseminar—Proseminar
Besprechungen zur _____________________________
mit gutem Fleiß und gutem Erfolg teilgenommen und folgende Arbeiten geliefert:

Hausarbeiten

Aufsichtsarbeiten
mit Auszeichnung:
gut:  ___1___
voll befriedigend:
genügend:
nicht genügend:

[signed] Schumpeter

Translation

Political Science Seminar
of the University of Bonn

Bonn, 26 July 1932
Mr. Wolfgang Stolper was enrolled in my public finance advanced/ introductory seminar during the summer/winter semester 1932.
Tutorial on  _______
His participation demonstrated good work and good performance, completing the following assignments:

Written home assignments

Proctored written examinations
with distinction: [blank]

[blank]
good:  ___1___

[blank]
satisfactory: [blank]

[blank]
sufficient: [blank]

[blank]
insufficient: [blank]

[blank]

[signed] Schumpeter

Source: Duke University. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Economists’ Papers Archive. Wolfgang F. Stolper papers, 1892-2001. Add. 02/207: Box 23, Folder unlabeled (job search 1940-41 correspondence).

Image Source: Harvard University Archives, from Schumpeter’s 1932 German passport. J. Schumpeter Papers. Box 2 (Correspondence and Papers relating to death of JAS), Folder “Dept of Labor–citizenship”.

 

Categories
Economists Gender Harvard Transcript

Harvard/Radcliffe. Economics PhD alumna and Wharton professor, Anne C. Bezanson, 1929

 

The materials in this post are presented in the opposite order that they were actually assembled. I began with three pieces of correspondence and a transcript of economics courses for a Radcliffe graduate who was ABD (= “all but dissertation”) and still interested in submitting a thesis more than a decade after her last course work at Harvard. The economics department chairman, Harold H. Burbank, made no fuss and we can see from the record that Annie Catherine Bezanson was indeed awarded an economics Ph.D. in 1929.

After I filled in the course titles and professors for her transcript, I then proceeded to gather biographical/career information for Bezanson. It of course did not take very long to discover that shortly after being awarded her Ph.D. she was promoted to a  professorship with tenure, the first woman to have cleared that professional hurdle at the University of Pennsylvania. What turned out to be more challenging was to find any photo whatsoever. Fortunately I stumbled upon a genealogical site that posted a picture of Anne Catherine Bezanson along with the obituary that begins the content portion of the post…

_______________________

Obituary from Bezansons of Nova Scotia

Died, Feb. 4, 1980, Dr. Anne Bezanson bur. Riverside Cemetery, Upper Stewiacke. Professor Emeritus, Wharton School of Finance & Commerce, U. of Pennsylvania, d… Hanover, Mass.

Born Mt. Dalhousie, N.S. daughter of the late John and Sarah (Creighton) Bezanson. Dr. Bezanson went to the United States in 1901, where she received her A.B. degree, A.M. & PhD. from Radcliffe…member of the Phi Beta Kappa…awarded an honourary doctor of science degree from University of British Columbia and from the University of Pennsylvania…served as Director of the Industrial Research Dept., Wharton School of Finance and Commerce; was professor at the Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania…served on the staff of the U.S. Coal Commission..member of Conference of Price Research, advisor to the Social Services Research Project, Rockefeller Foundation…wrote numerous articles in various professional economic journals …member American Economic Associationn; Historical Society of Pennsylvania; Economic History Association., serving as President from 1946-1948; American Statistical Association; Econometrics Society; Vice-President Delta Chapter Phi Beta Kappa, University of Pennsylvania.

Source: From the Website: Bezansons in North America

_______________________

PIONEER IN ACADEMIC BUSINESS RESEARCH
ANNE BEZANSON, PROFESSOR

ANNE BEZANSON had not yet completed her PhD in economic history in 1921, yet she was about to make history herself. At Wharton, the young Canadian helped establish the first business school research center, the Industrial Research Unit (later known as Industrial Research Department or IRD), with Professor Joseph Willits. The founding marked Wharton’s shift toward becoming an academic business research hub — defining a new role for business schools that continues today.

Bezanson’s 1921 article on promotion practices became the first product of the IRD. Bezanson continued her practical research in the early 1920s, writing a series on personnel issues, focusing on turnover, worker amenities, and accident prevention.

Willits and Bezanson designed an ambitious research program to explore and help civilize industrial working conditions, with the goal of social change. In 1922, Bezanson and Willits spent a year studying the earnings of coal miners at the U.S. Coal Commission. Employer associations, government agencies, and international organizations continued to look to the IRD for timely and practical knowledge.

In 1929, Bezanson finished her Harvard PhD and became the first female faculty member of Penn’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Under her leadership as co-director (which continued until 1945), the IRD had many women on its team and pursued research into the economic status of workers, revealing for the first time hard proof of the disparities in salaries and promotions for women and minorities across many industries.

Bezanson became the first woman to get full tenure at Penn, and in the 1930s sat on the National Bureau of Economic Research Price Conference. From 1939 to 1950 Bezanson was a part-time consultant at the Rockefeller Foundation, where she organized the first-ever roundtable on economic history in 1940. As a result of this involvement, Bezanson played a crucial role in the creation of the Economic History Association in the early 1940s, serving as president between 1946–1947. She died in 1980.

Source:  University of Pennsylvania. The Wharton School.Wharton Alumni Magazine, 125th Anniversary Issue (Spring 2007).

_______________________

Harvard/Radcliffe Academic Record

A.B. magna cum laude in economics.

 Source:  Report of the President of Radcliffe College for 1914-1915, pp. 10,13.

 

A.M. Annie Bezanson….Southvale, N.S. [Nova Scotia]

Source:   Report of the President of Radcliffe College for 1915-1916, p. 12.

 

June 1929 Doctor of Philosophy

Annie Catherine Bezanson, A.B. (Radcliffe College), 1915; A.M. (ibid.), 1916. Subject, Economics. Special Field, Labor Problems. Dissertation, Earnings and Working Opportunity in the Upholstery Weavers’ Trade.

Source: Report of the President of Radcliffe College 1928-29, p. 321.

_______________________

Economics Coursework

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
(Inter-Departmental Correspondence Sheet)

Cambridge, Massachusetts

Miss Anne Bezanson, A.B., Radcliffe 1915; A.M., 1916.

1911-12

Ec 1….B [Principles of Economics, Prof. Taussig et al.]
Ec 5….B, A- [Economics of Transportation, half course. Prof. Ripley]

1912-13

Ec 23….A- [Economic History of Europe to the Middle of the Eighteenth Century. Dr. Gray]

1913-14

Ec 11….B [Economic Theory. Prof. Taussig]
Ec 24….A [Topics in the Economic History of the Nineteenth Century. Prof. Gay]

1914-15

Ec 7….. [Theories of Distribution. Prof. Carver, Excused for Generals.]

1914-15

Ec 13….A [Statistics: Theory, Method and Practice. Asst. Prof. Day]
Ec 34….A [Problems of Labor. Prof. Ripley]
Ec 12….B+ [Scope and Methods of Economic Investigation. Half-course. Prof. Carver]
Ec 33….B [International Trade and Tariff Problems in the United States. Half-course. Prof. Taussig]
Ec 20….A- [Course of Research. Probably Economic History with Prof. Gay]
Ec 14….A [History and Literature of Economics to the year 1848. Prof. Bullock]

Source: Harvard University Archives. Department of Economics. Correspondence & Papers 1902-1950. Box 3.

_______________________

Handwritten letter from Bezanson to Burbank

January 2, 1928 [sic]

My Dear Prof. Burbank:

A long time ago, I talked with Professor Young, as well as Professors Carver and Gay about submitting one of my studies in part fulfillment of the requirement for a doctor’s thesis. This request is the result of the difficulty of leaving my present work to complete the study upon which I was at work from 1915 to 1918 on the Industrial Revolution in France. This month when I completed the first analysis of the Earnings of Tapestry Weavers, I sent it to Professor Gay with the hope that it would be, or could be, made acceptable to the Department of Economics.

All this discussion has been informal and, of course, unofficial. I am now writing to you for advice about the official steps: should I apply to the Dean of the Graduate School for permission to change the thesis subject? or should this request go from you? Do you advise such a request and if so can it be made without changing my field of concentration?

Briefly my difficulty is that though I passed the General Examination in October, 1916, I have since not completed the thesis and final examination requirements. A degree seems to have some value in promotion here. Yet, I am engaged on studies which I cannot drop and go back to a subject as remote as French conditions. Dean Gay has been in touch with the progress of Tapestry Earnings and I am acting upon his suggestion in asking for an opinion upon the possibility of offering that study as a thesis.

Very sincerely yours
[signed]
Anne Bezanson

Industrial Research Department
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pa.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Department of Economics. Correspondence & Papers 1902-1950. Box 3.

_______________________

Copies of responses by H.H. Burbank to Bezanson

 

January 7, 1929

Miss Anne Bezanson,
Index Research Department,
University of Pennsylvania,
Philadelphia, Pa.

Dear Miss Bezanson:

I see no reason why the program which you have offered for the Ph.D. cannot be changed to allow you to present your study on “Earnings in the Upholstery Weavers Trade”.

There will be some red tape about it. I expect I shall have to secure the consent of the Dean of the Graduate School and of the Department, but I foresee no difficulties in either direction.

I will write you as soon as there is a definite decision.

One question that is certain to be raised is whether or not the research is entirely your own work or whether it was carried on by an organization. I should like to have your reply to this as soon as possible. Your preface throws some light on this. I note that you say: “All analysis and interpretation of material has been made by the Index Research Department”. Does this mean that your own work was strictly limited to the writing of the report in the preparation of the material on which the investigation was based?

Very sincerely,
[H.H. Burbank]

 

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

January 9, 1929

Miss Anne Bezanson,
Index Research Department,
University of Pennsylvania,
Philadelphia, Pa.

Dear Miss Bezanson:

This is more or less a continuation of the note I sent to you yesterday. Last evening I talked to the members of the Department regarding your request. I think something can be worked out for you without very much trouble.

For your General Examination you presented Theory, Statistics, International Trade, Labor, and American History, reserving Economic History as your special field. It is my guess that you have done very little indeed with the literature of the field of Economic History during the last ten years, and that to prepare this field for a special examination would involve an inordinate amount of work. Further, it would require quite a stretch of the imagination to include your study of “The Upholstery Weavers” as Economic History.

Would it not be more within your general field of interest to present Labor problems as the subject for intensive examination. In spite of the fact that you presented this subject in your General Examinations it could be included as a special field. By a stroke of good fortune the Department put into effect this fall a ruling whereby candidates for the PhD may present an honor grade in an approved course in lieu of an oral examination in a subject. Ordinarily you would be required to stand for examination in Economic History as well as in Labor Problems, but under this new ruling we are able to accept the grade of A in Economics 24 taken in 1915.

Briefly then, it is my suggestion that your special field be Labor Problems, within which the dissertation which you are now presenting naturally would fall.

Please let me know if this meets with your approval.

Very sincerely,
H. H. Burbank.

HHB:BR

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Department of Economics. Correspondence & Papers 1902-1950. Box 3.

Image Source: Website Bezansons in North America.

 

 

 

Categories
Chicago Curriculum Economists Transcript

Chicago. Don Patinkin’s undergraduate and graduate coursework 1940s

A few years before there was an Institute for New Economic Thinking (INET) to provide a research grant that allowed me to begin my archival project, I happened to visit my sister’s family living in Cary, North Carolina. I had somehow stumbled across a reference to the Patinkin papers archived at the Economists’ Papers Project at Duke University and figured it would might be worth a “look-see” and so I took a day trip to Duke with no specific plan. I probably saw Patinkin’s personally annotated undergraduate and graduate transcripts and then (mistakenly) presumed that many archives would have such a complete documentation of the actual coursework taken by individual economists. What I did not appreciate was that the university records with respect to student transcripts except for early in the 20th century and before are not easily accessible for research because of privacy concerns. This means the historian needs to stumble upon copies of transcripts in random collections as was the case here. Thank you serendipity.

From Patinkin’s annotated transcripts at the University of Chicago (he added the names of course instructors as well as identified other courses that he presumably audited), we can see just how many different economists were involved in the economics education of one Don Patinkin. His student notes for most of these economics courses are also to be found in his papers and deserve to be transcribed.

On a minor note: As a pupil, I never thought twice about why a “Report Card” happened to be called a “Report Card”. From this University of Chicago transcript we can see that report is used as short-hand for “reported grade”. The instructor is clearly seen to report to the university registrar’s office.

_____________________________________________

The University of Chicago
Office of the Registrar
UNDERGRADUATE RECORD
Social Sciences

[Copy of transcript dated Jan 25, 1979]

 

Name: Don Patinkin
Home Address: 1426 S. Hamlin Ave., Chicago
Matriculation No.: 202316
Date of Birth: 1-8-22
Place: Chicago

 Entered: October 7, 1941
Attendance at other institutions: Central Y.M.C.A. Coll., Chicago, 1939-41

_____________________________________________

Entrance Units: From Marshall H.S., Chicago, 1939

English 3 ½
Latin
French 4
German
Spanish
History 2
Economics
Sociology
Civics ½
Drawing ½
Journalism 1½
Algebra 1½
Pl. Geom. 1
Sol. Geom. ½
Trigonometry
Gen. Biol. 1
Physics
Chemistry
Botany
Zoölogy
Gen Science 1½
Physiol. ½
TOTAL 18

_____________________________________________

REQUIRED WORK

Econ. (L.W.M. & J.D.R.) 10.28.41
ECON. 209, 210, 2[illegible], 220 or 222, 230, 2 from 240, 260

DIVISIONAL FIELD FIVE 201 COURSES TO BE CHOSEN FROM
ANTH, ECON, EDUC., GEOG., HIST., POL.SCI., PSYCH., SOC.

Elect
1½ C’s by adv. stg. + 4½ at Divis’l Level
Econ. 311, 301, 360, Stat. 330, Bus. 323

_____________________________________________

Advanced Standing Oct. 30 1941
Central Y.M.C.A. College

BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES

Zool. 101
Biol. Sci. Surv. (1)

HUMANITIES

Eng. 101, 103, Adv. Writing (1/2)
Philos.- Introd. (1), 203,
Hist of Philos. (1)
Hist of Europ. Civil. (1)
Apprec. Art & Music (1)

PHYSICAL SCIENCES

Math. 101, 102, 103, 218, 219, 220
Phy. Sci. Surv. (1).

SOCIAL SCIENCES

Econ.-Elem. (1 ½)
Soc. Sci. Surv. (1)

OTHER FIELDS

Bus.-Bus. Law (1/2)

Total: 19 ½ courses

_____________________________________________

[University of Chicago] Course Report
AUTUMN QR. 1941
ECON. 211 INTROD. TO STATISTICS inc.
A
P.SCI.   201 INTR. TO POLITICAL SCI. inc.
B
PSYCH. 201 INTROD. PSYCHOLOGY
Exam by Home Study 1-12-42		 [illegible]
A
WINTER QR. 1942
ECON.   209-INTERMED.ECON.THEORY
[Simons]		 B
ECON. 240. LABOR PROBLEMS
[Douglas]		 A
ECON. 311-STATISTICS/CORRELATION
[Lewis]		 B
SPRING QR. 1942
BUS. 323-PROB’Y,SAMPL’G & CURVE-FITTING
[illegible, “Yntema” according to course catalogue for 1942]		 A
ECON. 210-INTROD.TO ACCOUNTING
[Rovetta]		 A
ECON. 260-ELEM.OF GOV’T FINANCE
[Simons]		 B

EXAMINATION FOR THE BACHLOR’S DEGREE.

DIVISIONAL FIELD 8-24&25-42
ANTH. 201, EDUC. 201, POL.SCI.201, PSYCH. 201, SOC. 201

 B

Honor Scholar in the Division
(Economics)
Autumn Qr. 1942
ECON. 301-PRICE & DISTRIBUTION THEORY
[Knight]		 B
ECON. 360-GOVERNMENT FINANCE
[Leland]		 A
STAT. 330-THEORY OF PROBABILITY
[Bartky]		 C
PHYS.EDUC. (non-credit) ½ c. B

WINTER QR. 1943
Full Quarter’s Residence
ECON 230-INTR. TO MONEY & BANKING
[Mints]		 R
ECON 331-BANKING TH. & MONETARY POL.
[Mints]		 R
ECON. 220-ECON.HIST. OF U.S.
[Wright]

Pro-Forma

 R
EXAMINATION FOR THE BACHELOR’S DEGREE.
DEPARTMENTAL FIELD 3-4,5-43
Economics		 A
Elected to Phi Beta Kappa
Degree of A. B. Conferred MAR 26 1943
TRANSF. TO DIVISION (GRADUATE) JAN 3 1944

_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________

The University of Chicago
Office of the Registrar
Social Sciences
Graduate

[Copy of transcript dated Jan 25, 1979]

Name: Don Patinkin
Home Address: 1426 S. Hamlin Ave., Chicago
Matriculation No.: 202316
Date of Birth: 1-8-22
Place: Chicago

Entered: Undergraduate 10-7-41
Trans. to Divis. Grad. 1-3-44

 

A.B. (U. of Chicago) 3-26-43
A.M. (U. of Chicago) DEC 21 1945
Ph.D. (U. of Chicago) AUG 29 1947

CANDIDATE FOR DEGREE OF A.M. IN Economics

REC. BY S.E. Leland DATE 10-5-45
APPROVED BY THE FACULTY  10.5.45

CANDIDACY FOR DEGREE OF Ph.D. IN Economics

REC. BY T.W. Schultz DATE 5-24-46
APPROVED BY THE FACULTY 5-24-46

 

[University of Chicago] Course Report
WINTER QR. 1944
ECON.     370-INTERN’L TRADE & FIN.
[Viner]		 B
MATH.   231-SOLID ANALYTIC GEOM.
[Albert]		 A
MATH.   248-INFIN.SER.&DEF.INTEGRALS A
O.L.-O.T. 352-TARGUM OF THE PROPHETS A
SPRING QR. 1944
ECON. 222-INTRO. EUROP.EC.HIST., 1540-1940
[Nef]

B
inc
ECON. 367-PUBLIC DEBTS
[Leland]		 B
ECON. 371-INTERN’L ECON. POLICIES
[Viner]* Allowed an extension of time, until end of Aut. Q. 1944, in which to complete Econ. 371. (Dean Russell) 7-8-44

A
inc*
SUMMER QR. 1944
ECON.   307-IMPERFECT COMPETITION
[Lange]		 A
ECON.   330-MONEY
[Mints]		 A
MATH.   228-INTR. TO ALGEBRAIC THEORIES
[Albert]		 A
MATH. 247-DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS A
MATH.   306-MODERN HIGHER ALGEBRA
[Albert]		 A
AUTUMN QR. 1944
ECON.   402-MATH’L ECONOMICS
[Lange]		 A
MATH.   310-FUNCT. OF COMPLEX VARIABLE B
POL.SCI.   340-PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
[Leonard White]		 A
WINTER QR. 1945
ECON.   302-HIST. OF ECON.THOUGHT
[Knight]		 A
ECON.   314-APP’NS OF STATISTICS TO ECON.
[Marschak]		 A
ECON. 316-PROBS. IN MATH’L ECON.
[Marschak]		 A
MATH.   311-TH.OF FUN(‘NS OF REAL VARIABLES B
SPRING QR. 1945
[311 Lange]
[312 Hurwicz]
ECON.   303-MOD.TENDENCIES IN ECON.
[Lange]		 A
ECON. ½ c. 315-ECONOMETRICS OF BUS.FLUCT’NS
[Marschak]		 A
ECON. ½ c.317-MATH’L COLLOQUIUM FOR ECON’TS A
ECON.   361-ECON. OF FISCAL POLICY
[Simons]

inc
A
[305 Economics & Social Institutions Knight & Perry]
SUMMER QR. 1945
ECON.   309-SPEC.PROBS.IN ECON.THEORY
[Lange]		 inc
ECON.   332-BUSINESS CYCLE THEORY
[Lange]

inc
A
ECON.   357-AGRIC. IN THE POLIT.ECONOMY inc. no ex.
French Examination Passed NOV 5 1945
PASSED ON BASIS OF 1943 STANDARD
AUTUMN QR. 1945
GER.   101-ELEMENTARY GERMAN A
MATH.   373-TOPOLOGY
[Hestenes]		 B
POL.SCI.   361-INTERNATIONAL LAW
[Morgenthau]		 A
Final Examination Passed for A.M. in Economics—Summer & Autumn 1945 (Simeon E. Leland)
Degree of A.M. conferred DEC 21 1945
Without Thesis
[WINTER QR. 1946]
[Econ. 255 Introd. to Agricultural Economics
Johnson]
[Pol. Sci 327 Social and Political Philosophy
Perry & Knight]
[Econ 358   Agricultural Markets and Prices
Nicholls]
SPRING QR. 1946
ECON.   304-ECON.TH’Y & SOC.POLICY
[Knight-Perry]		 R
ECON.   351-MONOP’Y ELEM., PRICES, PUB.POL’Y
[Nicholls]		 R
ECON. 355-AGRIC’L PROD’N & DEMAND
[Schultz]		 R
[Soc. 324 Hist. of Soc. Theory
Wirth]

Final Examination Passed
For Ph.D. in Economics—July 29, 1947
(J. Marschak)
Degree of Ph.D. Conferred
Aug 29 1947
Thesis: On the Consistency of Economic Models:
A Theory of Involuntary Unemployment

 

Source: Duke University. David M. Rubinstein Library. Don Patinkin Papers. University of Chicago School of Economics Raw Materials. Box 1. Folder “Essays on & in Chicago Tradition from binder of same name, folder 1 of 2”.

Image Source:  Marshall High School Yearbook, 1939 (Chicago).

 

 

Categories
Economists Harvard Transcript

Harvard. Coursework of Frank W. Fetter for A.M., 1923-24

Frank Whitson Fetter (born May 22, 1899 in San Francisco, CA; died July 7, 1991 in Hanover, NH). A.B. from Swarthmore College (1920), A.M. from Princeton (1922), also A.M. from Harvard (1924). Ph.D. from Princeton (1926). His father was Princeton economics professor Frank Albert Fetter.

During the course of his career Fetter taught at Princeton, Haverford, Johns Hopkins, Wisconsin, Northwestern and Dartmouth.

The 1942 copy of his A.M. course transcript below matches an undated transcript (or report card) from the Harvard University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences for the academic year 1923-24 found in the same folder at the Duke Economists’ Papers Project.

 

____________________________

[Course titles and instructors]

From Economics Group I, Economic Theory and Method

11 Professor Taussig — Economic Theory.

 

From Economics Group III: Applied Economics

37 1hf. Professor Persons — Commercial Crises

39 2hf. Asst. Professor Williams — International Finance

 

From Economics Group V: Course of Research in Economics

20 Professors Taussig, Carver, Ripley, Bullock, Young, and Persons — Economic Research

 

From History, Group IV. American History

17a 1hf. Professor Turner—The History of the West.

39 2hf. Professor Turner—History of the United States, 1880-1920.

Source: Harvard University Reports of the President and the Treasurer of Harvard College for 1923-24. History, p. 103; Economics, p. 107.

____________________________

Harvard University
The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

24 University Hall, Cambridge, Massachusetts
November 30, 1942

Transcript of the record of Mr. Frank Whitson Fetter
1923-24

 

COURSE GRADE
Economics 11 (1 course)

A
Economics 20 (1 course)

A
Economics371 ( ½ course)

A
Economics 392( ½ course)

A minus
History 17a1 ( ½ course)

A minus
History 392 ( ½ course)

A

Mr. Fetter received the degree of Master of Arts in June, 1924.

The established grades are A, B, C, D, and E.

A grade of A, B, Credit, Satisfactory, or Excused indicates that the course was passed with distinction. Only courses passed with distinction may be counted toward a higher degree.

 

[signed] Lawrence S. Mayo
Associate Dean

 

Source: Duke University, Rubenstein Library. Frank Whitson Fetter Papers. Box 50, Folder “Student Papers, Transcripts, grades, Harvard University (1923-1924).

Image Source: (ca. 1937) John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.

 

Categories
Economists Harvard Transcript

Harvard. Graduate Course Record. Thomas Schelling, 1946-49

Included in the materials from the 1949-50 hiring search for someone to teach in Columbia College was a mimeographed fact-sheet/transcript for 28 year old Thomas Schelling together with a departmental statement provided by the Chairman of the Harvard Department of Economics, Harold Burbank. I think we can be pretty sure that both items were attached to a letter Burbank sent to Angell dated December 14, 1949 in which Tobin and Schelling were discussed with supporting data (cf. Appendix C in the Hiring Committee’s Report of January 9, 1950 that clearly provides information on Tobin from the same letter).

Interesting to note perhaps is (i) the future Nobel laureate did not get short-listed by the search committee and (ii) “his interest is mainly in the national income, fiscal policy approach” might have been a contemporary euphemism or dog-whistle for “Keynesian economist”.

In any event, I am delighted whenever I find the complete graduate course records of Ph.D.’s. I have filled in the names of the instructors for the respective courses based on the Harvard President’s Reports.

____________________

Thomas Crombie Schelling

Address: Program Division, ECA-OSR [Economic Cooperation Administration, Office of the Special Representative (Administration of the Marshall Plan)], 2 Rue Saint Florentin, Paris, France

Born: April 14, 1921, U.S.

Married: Yes

Degrees:

A.B., 1944, University of California (Highest honors)

A.M., 1948, Harvard University

Experience:

1941-43         American Embassy, Santiago, Chile

1945-46         U. S. Bureau of Budget, Fiscal Division

1946-48         Teaching Fellow, Harvard

1948               Elected to Society of Fellows, resigned September, 1949

1948-              ECA, Copenhagen Paris

 

Courses:

Summer 1946

Ec. 201 (Reading)                 Satis.

Fall 1946-47

Ec. 103a (Adv. theory [Schumpeter])         A+

Ec. 104b (Math. Ec. [Leontief])                    A+

Ec. 148a (Int. Tr. Sem. [sic, 148a was Fiscal Policy Seminar with Williams and Hansen])        A-

Spring 1946-47

Ec. 103b (Adv. Theory [Schumpeter]))      A+

Ec. 121b (Statistics [Frickey]))                     A-

Ec 148b (Int. Tr. Sem. [sic, 148a was Fiscal Policy Seminar with Williams and Hansen]))       A-

Summer 1947

Ec. 201 (Reading)     Satis.

Fall 1947-48

Ec. 102a (Adv. Theory [Leontief])   A+

Ec. 133a (History [Usher])               A-

Ec. 161a (Ind. Org. [Alexander and Crum])           A+

Spring 1947-48

Ec. 102b (Adv. Theory [Leontief])   Exc.

Ec. 133b (Ec. History[Usher])          A

Ec. 162b (Ind. Org. [Mason])           Exc.

Fields of study: Economic Theory, Industrial Organization, Money and Banking, Statistics, write-off, Economic History; special field, Business Cycles

Generals: Passed April 7, 1948 with a grade of Excellent Minus

____________________

[Supporting Statement
by Chairman of the Harvard Economics Department,
14 Dec. 1949(?)]

Schelling came to us immediately after the war with a quite extraordinary record in his undergraduate work at Berkeley and an outstanding war accomplishment in the Bureau of the Budget. His intellectual work with us was of the highest order, so high indeed that he was recommended for the Society of Fellows and accepted by them. However, Schelling saw fit to accept a position with the E.C.A. and at the end of the first year elected to stay with that organization even at the expense of resigning his fellowship. I have not heard from him directly but I understand that he intends to take his degree this spring and will be available.

The members of the staff most familiar with Schelling’s work—Hansen, Harris, and Smithies—regard him as one of the very top students we have had at least in the last ten years. I believe those mentioned will recommend him without qualification. It is true that his interest is mainly in the national income, fiscal policy approach, which I believe is one of the areas in which you are least interested, but he certainly is capable of working in theory and perhaps in other areas as well.

Very sincerely,

[signed]

H. H. Burbank

 

Professor James W. Angell
Columbia University
New York 27, New York

____________________

Source: Department of Economics Collection, Columbia University Archive. Box 6, Folder: “Columbia College”.

Image Source: Harvard Kennedy School Magazine, Summer 2012.

Categories
Economists Harvard Transcript

Harvard Economics. Richard M. Goodwin, 1949

The economics department of Columbia University set up a search committee  to identify “the names of the most promising young economists, wherever trained and wherever located” from which a short list of three names for the replacement of Louis M. Hacker in Columbia College was selected. The Chairman of the Harvard Economics Department, Harold H. Burbank, suggested a few names to the committee. In this posting I have assembled Burbank’s letter, another by Schumpeter and a data-sheet apparently provided by the Harvard economics department (including a list of graduate courses taken at Harvard) plus a list of Goodwin’s publications as of the end of 1949.

_____________________

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS
Office of the Chairman
M-8 Littauer Center
Cambridge 38, Massachusetts

November 28, 1949

Dear Jimmy

I had thought that I might be able to make one or two definite recommendations by this time, but I find that I cannot be at all definite.

The young man whom I had expected to recommend most strongly is Richard M. Goodwin. Goodwin was graduated from Harvard College in 1934, summa cum laude. After three years at Oxford I had him return to the Department and he has been with us since that time. During the war years he worked with the group in mathematics and physics, improving and consolidating his knowledge of mathematics to a point where it is highly useful in his econonmics. Goodwin is now in the fourth year of his appointment as an assistant professor. Undoubtedly he will be considered for a permanent place here which is probably the best recommendation I can give you. With us he has worked mainly in theory and money and banking and in cycles. I am enclosing a copy of his publications It is true enough that his main interest for the moment is in monetary economics but his interests are so definitely broad that I feel that it would be no great difficulty for him to meet your needs.

[…]

Very sincerely

[signed]

H. H. Burbank

Professor James W. Angell
Department of Economics
Columbia University
New York 27, New York

Source: Columbia University Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Department of Economics Collection, Box 6, Folder “Columbia College”

_____________________

 

Richard Murphey Goodwin

Address:                  7 Revere Street, Cambridge; E1 4-2981

Born:                        1913 in U.S.

Married:                  Yes

Degrees:

A. B. Harvard, 1934
B.A. Oxford, 1936
B. Litt. Oxford, 1937
A.M., Harvard, 1939
Ph.D. Harvard, 1941

Experience:         Annual Instructor, Harvard, 1939-46

Assistant Professor, Harvard, 1946-

Courses:               1937-38

Ec. 116 (Price Theory)           B+
Ec. 103a (Adv. Theory)         A
Ec. 121 (Statistics)                 A+, Exc.
Ec. 145 (Cycles)                      A, A
Ec. 4a (Math. Ec.)                  B+

1938-39

Ec.171 (Com. Dist)                 A

 

Fields of Study:   Theory, Ec. History, Statistics, Cycles; write-off, Commodity Distribution and Prices

Special Field:           Money and Banking

Thesis Topic:           Studies in Money; England and Wales, 1919 to 1938

Generals:                 Passed May 24, 1938 with grade of Good Plus

Specials:                  Passed May 22, 1941 with grade of Excellent Minus

Source: Columbia University Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Department of Economics Collection, Box 6, Folder “Columbia College”

 _____________________

Richard M. Goodwin – Bibliography

“The Supply of Bank Money in England and Wales, 1920-38”, Oxford Economic Papers, no. 5, 1941.

“Keynesian and Other Interest Theories,” Review of [Economic] Statistics, Vol. XXV, No. 1, February, 1943.

“Keynesian Economics,” a review of a book of Mabel Timlin, Review of Economic Statistics, Aug. 1944. Vol. XXVI.

“Innovations and the Irregularity of Economic Cycles,” Review of Economic Statistics, May 1946.

“Dynamical Coupling with Special Reference to Markets Having Production Lags,” Econometrica, July 1947.

“The Multiplier”, an article in the New Economics, edited by S. E. Harris, 1947.

“Secular and Cyclical Aspects of the Multiplier and the Accelerator,” a chapter in Income, Employment and Public Policy – Essays in Honor of Alvin Hansen, 1948.

“The Business Cycle as a Self Sustaining Mechanism,” a paper delivered befoe the Econmetric Society, December, 1948. Abstract published in Econometrica for April 1949.

“Liquidity and Uncertainty”, a discussion paper delivered at the Annual Meeting of the American Economic Association in Cleveland, December 1948. Published in the Proceedings of the convention.

“The Multiplier as Matrix” accepted for publication but not yet published by the Economic Journal of the Royal Economic Society.

A book, “Dynamic Economics”, now in preparation.

Source: Columbia University Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Department of Economics Collection, Box 6, Folder “Columbia College”

 _____________________

JOSEPH A. SCHUMPETER
7 Acacia Street
Cambridge 38, Massachusetts
December 3, 1949

Professor James W. Angell
Executive Officer
Department of Economics
Columbia University
New York 27, N.Y.

Private and confidential:

Dear Angell:

I greatly regret my inability to thank you, before leaving New York, for your hospitality and to have a chat with you. Now there is nothing confidential in this. What is strictly confidential however is a topic which I wished to bring up in that chat. The next year will terminate the five-year appointment of one of our best young men, Assistant Professor Richard Goodwin. According to our practice, the question of his promotion to permanent office is going to be discussed presently and I have no hope of securing a majority for him that the administration will consider adequate. This is not because any one has any fault to find with him personally but simply because other people have other candidates. You know how that is. Myself, I believe that Goodwin’s work in the field of dynamic models (and in particular four of his ten published articles) is of striking force and originality and also promises well for the future. In addition, I know that he is an excellent teacher. On the undergraduate level he runs personally and independently our biggest course, namely, the course on Money and Banking (But I do not count the general introductory course because it is run by sections). On the graduate level I have much admired his ability to express convey difficult material to an audience not really in command of the requisite technique. Therefore I am, myself, strongly in favor of promoting him but since I do not anticipate success I am anxious to sound you confidentially as regards possibilities at Columbia. An appointment might be combined with work at the National Bureau and would not therefore burden your budget very much immediately. Of course you will realize that the matter is strictly confidential but I would very much like to have your opinion.

Cordially yours,

[signed]
Joseph A. Schumpeter

JAS/jcs

[handwritten note by Schumpeter at bottom of page] I have talked to Burns

Source: Columbia University Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Department of Economics Collection, Box 6, Folder “Columbia College”

 _____________________

Image Source: Harvard Class of 1951 Yearbook.

Categories
Economists Harvard Transcript

Harvard. Wolfgang Stolper’s Coursework. 1934-37

The picture shows the economics department of Swarthmore ca. 1942:
Standing: John W. Seybold (1916-2004), Frank Pierson (1911-1996)
Seated: Wolfgang F. Stolper (1912-2002), Clair Wilcox (1898-1970), Herbert F. Fraser (1890-1953).

One can read about them and others in One Hundred Years of Economics at Swarthmore by Joshua Hausman (Swarthmore, Class of 2005)

Below is the course record of the first author of the classic paper “Protection and Real Wages,” Review of Economic Studies, 1941. The second author was the economist seen in center of this blog’s rear-view mirror.

____________________________________

HARVARD UNIVERSITY

THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES

24 UNIVERSITY HALL, CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS

May 23, 1938

 

Transcript of the record of Mr. Friedrich Wolfgang Stolper

 

Course

1934-35

GRADE
Economics 11
[Economic theory]

(1 course)
[Taussig, Schumpeter]

Excused
Economics 51
[Business cycles and economic forecasting]

(1 course)
[Schumpeter]

A
Economics 1a1
[Introduction to economic statistics]

(½ course)
Frickey

A
Economics 10a1
[History of commerce, 1450-1750]

(½ course)
[Usher]

A
Economics 10b2
[History of industry and agriculture, 1450-1750]

(½ course)
[Usher]

A minus
Economics 31b2
[Theory of economic statistics]

(½ course)
[Crum]

Excused

1935-36
Mathematics A

(1 course)

C plus
Economics 121
[Monopolistic competition and allied problems in value theory]

(½ course)
[Chamberlin]

A minus
Economics 20
[Economic research]		 (1 course)
Mason

A

1936-37
Economics 20
[Economic research]

(1½ courses)
Schumpeter

A
Economics 147a hf
[Seminar: Selected problems in money and banking]

(½ course)
[Harris]

A

Mr. Stolper received the degree of Master of Arts in June, 1935.

 

The established grades are A, B, C, D, and E.

A grade of A, B, Credit, Satisfactory, or Excused indicates that the course was passed with distinction. Only courses passed with distinction may be counted toward a higher degree.

*Courses marked with an asterisk are elementary and therefore may not be counted toward a higher degree.

[signed] Lawrence S. Mayo
Assistant Dean

 

Source: Wolfgang F. Stolper papers. Duke University, Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Box 23 c. 1.

Image Source: p. 15 of The Halcyon 1943 (Swarthmore Yearbook).

Categories
Columbia Courses Economists Harvard Transcript

Columbia. Search Committee Report. 1950

This report is fascinating for a couple of reasons. The search committee understood its task to identify “the names of the most promising young economists, wherever trained and wherever located” from which a short list of three names for the replacement of Louis M. Hacker in Columbia College was selected. Organizationally, Columbia College is where undergraduate economics has been taught so that teaching excellence, including participation in Columbia College’s legendary Contemporary Civilization course sequence, was being sought as well as was potential for significant scholarship. Appendix C provides important information on James Tobin’s graduate economics education. In a later posting, I’ll provide information on others in the long-list of seventeen economists identified by the search committee.

___________________

January 9, 1950

 

Professor James W. Angell, Chairman
Department of Economics
Columbia University

Dear Mr. Chairman:

The Committee appointed by you to canvass possible candidates for the post in Columbia College that is made available by the designation of Professor Louis M. Hacker as Director of the School of General Studies submits herewith its report.

As originally constituted, this committee was made up of Professors Taylor, Barger, Hart and Haig (chairman). At an early stage the membership was expanded to include Professor Stigler and from the beginning the committee had the advantage of the constant assistance of the chairman of the department.

In accordance with the suggestions made at the budget meeting in November, the committee has conducted a broad inquiry, designed to raise for consideration the names of the most promising young economists, wherever trained and wherever located. In addition to the men known personally to the members of the committee, suggestions were solicited from the authorities at other institutions, including Harvard, Chicago, California and Leland Stanford. By mid December, scrutiny of the records and publications by the committee to the following seventeen:

 

Name Suggested by
Alchian, Armen A. Haley
Bronfenbrenner, Martin Friedman
Brownlee, O. H. Friedman
Christ, Carl L. Angell
Dewey, D. J. Friedman
Du[e]senberry, [James] Stigler
Goodwin, Richard M. Burbank
Harberger, J. H. Friedman
Ho[s]elitz, Bert Friedman
Lewis, H. Gregg Hart
Machlup, Fritz Stigler
Nicholls, William H. Stigler
Nutter, J. W. Friedman
Pancoast, Omar Taylor
Schelling, Thomas Burbank
Tobin, James Burbank
Vandermeulen, D. C. Ellis

[p. 2]

The meeting of the American Economic Association in New York during the Christmas holidays offered an opportunity to meet many of the men on the above list and to make inquiries regarding them. As a consequence, it has been possible for your committee to make rapid progress with its appraisals. Although the committee is continuing to gather information and data, it is prepared at this time to make a series of definite recommendations, with a high degree of confidence that these recommendations are not likely to be greatly disturbed by its further inquiries.

It is the unanimous opinion of the members of your committee that the most eligible and promising candidate on our list is Martin Bronfenbrenner, associate professor of economics at the University of Wisconsin, at present on leave for special service in Tokyo.

Should Bronfenbrenner prove to be unavailable the committee urges consideration of D. J. Dewey, at present holding a special fellowship at the University of Chicago, on leave from his teaching post at Iowa. As a third name, the committee suggests James Tobin, at present studying at Cambridge, England, on a special fellowship from Harvard.

Detailed information regarding the records of these three men will be found in appendices to this report.

Bronfenbrenner, the first choice of the committee, is 35 years old. He received his undergraduate degree from Washington University at the age of 20 and his Ph.D. from Chicago at 25. During his war service, he acquired a good command of the Japanese language. He taught at Roosevelt College, Chicago, before going to Wisconsin and undergraduate reports of his teaching are as enthusiastic as those of the authorities at Chicago. He happens to be personally well known to two of the members of your committee (Hart and Stigler) and to at last two other member of the department (Shoup and Vickrey), all four of whom commend him in high terms.

The following statement from Hart, dated December 6, 1929, was prepared after a conference with Friedman of Chicago:

“Bronfenbrenner is undoubtedly one of the really powerful original thinkers in the age group between thirty and thirty-five. He has always very much enjoyed teaching; my impression is that his effectiveness has been with the upper half of the student body at Roosevelt College and at Wisconsin. He is primarily a theorist but has a wide range of interest and a great deal of adaptability so it would not be much of a problem to fit him in somewhere [p. 3] in terms of specialization. He would do a good deal to keep professional discussion stirring in the University. My impression is that he tends to be underrated by the market, and that a chance at Columbia College might well be his best opportunity for some time ahead. The difficulty is, of course, that there is no chance of arranging an interview; though Shoup and Vickrey, of course, both saw him last summer.”

In a letter dated December 15, Shoup wrote as follows:

“I have a high regard for Martin Bronfenbrenner’s intellectual capacities, and I think he would fit in well in the Columbia scene. He has an excellent mind and a great intellectual independence. In his writings he sometimes tends to sharp, almost extreme statements, but in my opinion, they almost always have a solid foundation, and in conversation he is always ready to explore all sides of the question. When we had to select someone to take over the tax program in Japan, after the report had been formulated, and oversee the implementation of the program by the Japanese government, it was upon my recommendation that Bronfenbrenner was selected. He arrived in Japan in the middle of August and his work there since that time has confirmed me in my expectations that he would be an excellent selection for the job, even though he did not have very much technical background in taxation. I rank him as one of the most promising economists in his age group in this country, and I should not be surprised if he made one or more major contributions of permanent value in the coming years.

“He has gone to Japan on a two year appointment, after having obtained a two year leave of absence from the University of Wisconsin. My understanding is that on such an appointment he could come back to the United States at the end of one year, provided he paid his own passage back. It might be possible that even this requirement would be waived, but I have no specific grounds for thinking so. I believe the major part of his work with respect to implementing the tax program will have been completed by next September. If the committee finds itself definitely interested in the possibility of Bronfenbrenner’s coming to Columbia, I should not let the two year appointment stand in the way of making inquiries.”

The breadth and rang of his interests recommend Bronfenbrenner as a person who would probably be highly [p.4] valuable in the general course in contemporary civilization and the quality of his written work suggests high promise as a productive scholar in one or more specialized fields.

Your committee considers that the appropriate rank would be that of associate professor.

Respectfully submitted,

[signed]

Robert M. Haig

 

______________________________

Appendix A – Martin Bronfenbrenner

The following data regarding Bronfenbrenner are taken chiefly from the 1948 Directory of the American Economic Assoication:

Born: 1914

Education and Degrees:

A.B. Washington University, 1934
Ph.D. University of Chicago 1939
1940-42, George Washington School of Law

Fields: Theory, mathematical economics, statistical methods, econometrics

Doctoral dissertation: Monetary theory and general equilibrium

Publications:

“Consumption function controversy”, Southern Economic Journal, January, 1948
“Price control under imperfect competition”, American Economic Review, March, 1947
“Dilemma of Liberal Economics,” Journal of Political Economy, August, 1946

Additional publications:

“Post-War Political Economy: The President’s Reports”, Journal of Political Economy, October, 1948
Various book reviews including one on W. I. King’s The Keys to Prosperity, Journal of Political Economy, December, 1948, and A. H. Hansen’s Monetary Theory and Fiscal Policy, Annals

Additions to list of publications circulated, January 9, 1950

“The Economics of Collective Bargaining”, Quarterly Journal of Economics, August, 1939.
(with Paul Douglas) “Cross-Section Studies in the Cobb-Douglas Function”, Journal of Political Economy, 1939.
“Applications of the Discontinuous Oligopoly Demand Curve”, Journal of Political Economy, 1940.
“Diminishing Returns in Federal Taxation” Journal of Political Economy, 1942.
“The Role of Money in Equilibrium Capital Theory”, Econometrica (1943).

______________________________

Appendix B – D. J. Dewey

On leave from Iowa.

In 1948 studied at Cambridge, England.
1949-50, at Chicago on special fellowship.

Bibliography:

Notes on the Analysis of Socialism as a Vocational Problem, Manchester School, September, 1948.
Occupational Choice in a Collectivist Economy, Journal of Political Economy, December, 1948.

Friedman and Schultz are highly enthusiastic.

Statement by Hart, dated December 6, 1949:

“Friedman regards Dewey as first rate and points to an article on ‘Proposal for Allocating the Labor Force in a Planned Economy’ (Journal of Political Economy, as far as I remember in July 1949) for which the J.P.E. gave a prize as the best article of the year. I read the article, rather too quickly, a few weeks ago and it is definitely an imaginative and powerful piece of work. How the conclusions would look after a thorough-going seminar discussion, I am not clear; but the layout of questions is fascinating.”

______________________________

Appendix [C] – James Tobin

Statement by Burbank of Harvard, dated December 14, 1949:

“We have known Tobin a good many years. He came to us as a National Scholar, completed his work for the A.B. before the war and had advanced his graduate work very well before he went into the service. He received his Ph.D. in 1947. Since 1947 he has been a Junior Fellow. He was a teaching fellow from 1945 to 1947. He is now in Cambridge, England, and will, I believe, begin his professional work by next fall. Since Tobin has been exposed to Harvard for a very long time I believe that he feels that for his own intellectual good he should go elsewhere. I doubt if we could make a stronger recommendation than Tobin nor one in which there will be greater unanimity of opinion. Certainly he is one of the top men we have had here in the last dozen years. He is now intellectually mature. He should become one of the handful of really outstanding scholars of his generation. His interests are mainly in the area of money but he is also interested in theory and is competent to teach at any level.”

Data supplied by Harvard:

Address:    Department of Applied Economics, Cambridge University, England

Married:   Yes, one child

Born:          1918, U.S.

Degrees:

A. B. Harvard, 1939 (Summa cum laude)
A.M. Harvard, 1940
Ph.D. Harvard, 1947

Fields of Study: Theory, Ec. History, Money and Banking, Political Theory: write-off, Statistics

Special Field: Business Cycles

Thesis Topic: A Theoretical and Statistical Analysis of Consumer Saving

Experience:

1942-45 U.S. Navy
1945-47 Teaching Fellow, Harvard University
1947- Junior Fellow, Society of Fellows

[p. 2 of Appendix C]

Courses:           1939-40

Ec. 21a (Stat.)                  A
Ec. 121b (Adv. St.)          A
Ec. 133 (Ec. Hist)            A
Ec. 147a (M&B Sem)      A
Ec. 145b (Cycles)             A
Ec. 113b (Hist. Ec.)       Exc.
Gov. 121a (Pol.Th.)         A

1940-1941

Ec. 121a (Stat.)                A
Ec. 164 (Ind. Org.)          A
Ec. 20 (Thesis)                A
Ec. 118b (App. St.)          A
Math 21                             A
Ec. 104b (Math Ec.)       A

1946-47 Library and Guidance

Generals:       Passed May 22, 1940 with grade of Good Plus
Specials:         Passed May 9, 1947 with grade of Excellent.

 

Data from 1948 Directory of American Economic Association:

Harvard University, Junior Fellow

Born:                1918

Degrees:           A. B., Harvard, 1939; Ph.D., Harvard, 1947j

Fields: Business fluctuations, econometrics, economic theory, and mathematical economics

Dissertation: A theoretical and statistical analysis of consumer saving.

Publications:

“Note on Money Wage Problem”, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 1941.
“Money Wage Rates and Employment”, in New Economics (Knopf, 1947).
“Liquidity Preference and monetary Policy”, Review of Economics and Statistics, 1947.
[pencil addition] Article in Harris (ed.), The New Economics, 1947.

______________________________

Source: Columbia University Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Department of Economics Collection, Box 6, Folder “Columbia College”

Image Source: The beyondbrics blog of the Financial Times.