Category: Columbia

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Columbia Regulations

Columbia. Allowing math to substitute for second foreign language, 1950

 

 

In a previous posting Economics in the Rear-view Mirror provided a except from the Faculty Minutes of Columbia University’s Faculty of Political Science agreeing to the modification of the second foreign language requirement in its Ph.D. program to allow mathematics to count for that second foreign language. Below we have the full proposal submitted by the department of economics which notes that Harvard and Chicago had already modified their own language requirements this way.

_________________________

FACULTY OF POLITICAL SCIENCE

April 10, 1950

PROPOSAL OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS TO MODIFY THE LANGUAGE REQUIREMENT FOR THE Ph.D. DEGREE IN ORDER TO PERMIT AN OPTION IN MATHEMATICS.

The regulations of the Faculty and of the Department of Economics now require that any candidate for the Ph.D. degree in Economics shall satisfy the Department that he can read two modern languages, in addition to English. This requirement dates back to a period when very substantial parts of the important current literature in Economics were written in a foreign language, usually French or German. In recent years, however, the necessity for using more than one foreign language has become less urgent for the average economist. Much the larger part of the central core of modern economic thought is now available either in English, or in languages such as Swedish or Dutch which are not ordinarily offered toward the language requirement. On the other hand, mathematical tools are playing an increasingly large part in the study and development of Economics, and there is an important and growing body of economic literature which can be read only with some understanding of Mathematics.

The Department of Economics therefore requests approval of a modification of the present language requirement to give the candidate for the Ph.D. in Economics, in cases where it is of particular value to the candidate’s scholarly interests, the option of offering Mathematics in place of one of the two foreign languages now required toward the Ph.D. Harvard and Chicago already have such an option. The required level of proficiency in Mathematics would have to be specified rather explicitly by the Department, but this specification is not a problem of any great difficulty. The Department of Mathematical Statistics has very kindly offered its assistance in the matter.

If this proposal is approved in general principle, certain changes in the present text of the 1949-50 Faculty announcement will be required. The suggested phrasing of the changes is as follows:

With respect to the Faculty requirements:

Revise p. 24, paragraph entitled “Languages”, by adding the following sentence at the end of the paragraph:

…Prospective candidates in the Department of Economics may under certain circumstances, and with the permission of the Executive Officer of that Department, offer Mathematics and one foreign language instead of two foreign languages (see the specific requirements of the Department of Economics, below).

            With respect to the Department of Economics requirements:

Substitute the following for the first five lines of the paragraph headed “Languages”, on p. 41 (option 1 is the present requirement):

Languages; Option in Mathematics. The prospective candidate must meet one of the two following requirements.
(1) The prospective candidate may satisfy the Department of Economics that he can read two modern languages in addition to Engish. The combination of French and German is preferred. Russian, Italian, Spanish or another language may be selected, with the written permission of the Executive Officer of the Department, in cases where such other language is of particular value to the prospective candidate’s scholarly interests, but ordinarily a combination of two Romance languages may not be selected.
(2) Where it is of particular value to his scholarly interests and with the written permission of the Executive Officer, the prospective candidate may offer Mathematics in the place of one of the two foreign languages. A student selecting this option will be required to demonstrate his knowledge of algebra, analytical geometry and the differential and integral calculus.

Minor changes in the text of the rest of the paragraph will also be necessary, if the second option is approved.

 

Source: Columbia University Libraries. Columbiana, Department of Economics Collection. General departmental notices, memoranda, etc. Curriculum material. Box 1, Folder “Committee on Instruction.”

Image Source: Alma Mater on the steps of Columbia University.

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Bibliography Columbia Economists

Columbia. Publications of Henry Ludwell Moore, 1895-1929

 

 

The Johns Hopkins Ph.D., Henry Ludwell Moore, was a pioneer in the application of statistics to neoclassical economics. His most famous students were Paul H. Douglas and Henry Schultz. 

______________________

[Bibliography through 1930]
HENRY LUDWELL MOORE
1869-[1958]

A.B., Randolph-Macon, 1892; Ph.D., Johns Hopkins, 1896.

Instructor in Economics, 1896-1897, Lecturer in Political Economy, Johns Hopkins, 1897-1898; Professor of Political Economy, Smith, 1897-1902; Adjunct Professor of Political Economy, 1902-1906, Professor of Political Economy, Columbia, 1906-1929.

Books

Laws of Wages; An Essay in Statistical Economics. New York, The Macmillan Company, 1911. viii, 196 p.

Economic Cycles: Their Law and Cause. New York, The Macmillan Company, 1914. viii, 149 p. [Japanese translation, Tokyo, 1926]

Forecasting the Yield and Price of Cotton. New York, The Macmillan Company, 1917. vi, 173 p.

Generating Economic Cycles. New York, The Macmillan Company, 1923. xi, 141 p.

Synthetic Economics. New York, The Macmillan Company, 1929. vii, 186 p.

 

Articles

Von Thunen’s Theory of Natural Wages. Quarterly Journal of Economics, Apr., July 1895, IX, 291-304, 388-408.

Antoine-Augustin Cournot. Revue de métaphysique et de morale, May 1905, XIII, 521-543.

The Personality of Antoine Augustin Cournot. Quarterly Journal of Economics, May 1905, XIX, 370-399.

Paradoxes of Competition. Quarterly Journal of Economics, Feb. 1906, XX, 211-230.

The Variability of Wages. Political Science Quarterly, Mar. 1907, XXII, 61-73.

The Differential Law of Wages. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, Dec. 1907, LXX, 638-651.

The Efficiency Theory of Wages. Economic Journal, Dec. 1907, LXIII, 571-579.

The Statistical Complement of Pure Economics. Quarterly Journal of Economics, Nov. 1908, XXIII, 1-33.

Crop-Cycles in the United Kingdom and in the United States. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, May 1919, LXXXII, 373-389.

Empirical Laws of Demand and Supply and the Flexibility of Prices. Political Science Quarterly, Dec. 1919, XXXIV, 546-567.

Crop-Cycles in the United Kingdom and in France. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, May 1920, LXXXIII, 445-454.

Forecasting the Crops of the Dakotas. Political Science Quarterly, June 1920, XXXV, 204-235.

Generating Cycles of Products and Prices. Quarterly Journal of Economics, Feb. 1921, XXXV, 215-239.

Generating Cycles Reflected in a Century of Prices. Quarterly Journal of Economics, Aug. 1921, XXXV, 503-526.

The Origin of the Eight-Year Generating Cycle. Quarterly Journal of Economics, Nov. 1921, XXXVI, 1-29.

Elasticity of Demand and Flexibility of Prices. Journal of the American Statistical Association, Mar. 1922, XVIII, 8-19.

An Eight-Year Cycle in Rainfall. Monthly Weather Review, July 1922, L, 357-359.

Economic Cycles. Geographical Review, Oct. 1923, XIII, Sup., 662.

A Moving Equilibrium of Demand and Supply. Quarterly Journal of Economics, May 1925, XXXIX, 357-371.

Partial Elasticity of Demand. Quarterly Journal of Economics, May 1926, XL, 393-401.

Pantaleoni’s Problem in the Oscillation of Prices. Quarterly Journal of Economics, Aug. 1926, XL, 586-596.

A Theory of Economic Oscillations. Quarterly Journal of Economics, Nov. 1926, XLI, 1-29.

 

Source: A Bibliography of the Faculty of Political Science of Columbia University 1880-1930. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1931), pp. 104-105.

______________________

For more about Henry Moore, see George J. Stigler, Henry L. Moore and Statistical Economics. Econometrica, Vol. 30, No. 1 (Jan., 1962), pp. 1-21.

Image Source: Precedes the Stigler article.

 

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Size distribution of graduate and undergraduate programs in economics. U.S., 1963-65

 

 

These are the last two statistical tables from the so-called “Cartel” summary report from December 1965 of leading economics departments in the U.S. intended to provide orientation for departmental chairpersons in salary negotiations. Today’s posting gives the numbers of undergraduate and graduate majors reported by 29 departments. 

Earlier postings gave the distribution for full-professors, the distribution for associate professors, and the distribution for assistant professors across departments. Two previous postings have the actual distributions for entering salaries for new Ph.D.’s for 1964-65 and 1965-66 and the anticipated range of salary offers for new Ph.D.’s for 1966-67. Those first five reports from The Cartel provide distributions of median or average incomes or ranges of salary offers by ranks across departments. Table 6c from the summary report that gives the salary distributions by rank for 335 professors, 143 associate professors and 185 assistant professors from all 27 departments.

Refer to the first posting in this series of tables for information about the compiler Professor Francis Boddy of the University of Minnesota and a list of the 30 departments belonging to the Chairmen’s Group.

____________________

 

TABLE 7c
Graduate majors in Economics – 29 institutions:

 

1963-64 1964-65 1965-66
(Estimate)
300 and over 2 2

1

200-299

 0 0 2
150-199 3 4

5

100-149

 6 5 6
80-99 4 4

3

60-79

 5 7 5
40-59 6 4

4

20-39

 2 1 0
1-19 1 1

1
Number of departments reporting:

29

 28

27
Total number of students:

2,963

 3,057

3,118

____________________

 

TABLE 8C
Undergraduate majors in Economics – 29 institutions

 

1963-64 1964-65
300 and over 4

4

250-299

 1 1
200-249 3

2

150-199

 4 6
100-149 8

5

80-99

 1 1
60-79 2

1

40-59

 2 3
20-39 1

1

1-19

 1

1
Number of departments reporting:

27

25
Total number of students:

4,550

4,312

 

Source: Johns Hopkins University. The Ferdinand Hamburger, Jr. Archives. Department of Political Economy, Series 5, Box 6, Folder 2 “Statistical Information”.

Image Source: quick meme website.

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Economics Professors’ Salaries by Rank (6), 1965-66

 

 

This is the sixth table from the so-called “Cartel” summary report from December 1965 of 9-10 month salaries paid in U.S. economics departments. In the previous five tables The Cartel reports median or average incomes or ranges of salary offers by ranks across departments. In this posting we have Table 6c from the summary report that gives the salary distributions by rank for 335 professors, 143 associate professors and 185 assistant professors from all 27 departments.

Earlier postings gave the distribution for full-professors, the distribution for associate professors, and the distribution for assistant professors across departments. Two previous postings have the actual distributions for entering salaries for new Ph.D.’s for 1964-65 and 1965-66 and the anticipated range of salary offers for new Ph.D.’s for 1966-67.

Refer to the first posting in this series of tables for information about the compiler Professor Francis Boddy of the University of Minnesota and a list of the 30 departments belonging to the Chairmen’s Group.

Using the BLS web CPI Inflation calculator, one can inflate nominal levels (say for December 1965, the date of the report) to April 2017 using a factor of 7.69.

 

____________________

TABLE 6c

Salaries of Economists (9-10 month, academic year, 1965-66) in 27 of the 29 Departments of Economics (The Cartel):
N = Number of Persons

MID POINT OF RANGE PROFESSORS ASSOCIATE PROFESSORS ASSISTANT PROFESSORS
26,750/and over 2
26,500 0
26,000 2
25,500 1
25,000 8
24,500 0
24,000 4
23,500 2
23,000 7
22,500 2
22,000 12
21,500 7
21,000 10
20,500 5
2,0000 22
19,500 10
19,000 13
18,500 11
18,000 24
17,500 8
17,000 19
16,500 23
16,000 27
15,500 20 1 0
15,000 21 2 1
14,500 14 2 0
14,000 22 10 0
13,500 10 12 0
13,000 10 13 1
12,500 7 18 2
12,000 6 20 1
11,500 3 21 7
11,000 3 13 9
10,500 0 18 18
10,000 0 9 35
9,750 1 9
9,500 2 28
9,250 1 11
9,000 0 24
8,750 0 8
8,500 0 13
8,250 2
8,000 15
7,750 1
N=335 N=143 N=185

 

Source: Johns Hopkins University. The Ferdinand Hamburger, Jr. Archives. Department of Political Economy, Series 5, Box 6, Folder 2 “Statistical Information”.

Image Source:  “Me and my partner” by C. J. Taylor on cover of Punch, December 25, 1889. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.

 

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Expected New PhD Starting Salaries in U.S. Economics Departments (5), 1966/67

 

 

This is the fifth table from the so-called “Cartel” summary report from December 1965 of 9-10 month salaries paid in U.S. economics departments. Table 5c give figures for the anticipated range of salaries for “freshly completed PhD’s” for the coming academic year (1966-67) across the departments reporting. Earlier postings gave the distribution for full-professors, the distribution for associate professors, and the distribution for assistant professors. The previous posting has the actual distributions for entering salaries for new Ph.D.’s for 1964-65 and 1965-66. Refer to the first posting in this series of tables for information about the compiler Professor Francis Boddy of the University of Minnesota and a list of the 30 departments belonging to the Chairmen’s Group.

The copy of this table in the Johns Hopkins University archives has a useful handwritten addition. It is noted that the median lower bound of the range is $9,250 and the median higher bound of the range is $10,000. Thus one might say a measure of the range of the anticipated, as of December 1965), 9-10 month salary offers for “freshly completed PhDs” for 1966-67 was ($9,250 — $10,000), though such a range was not necessarily anticipated by any one of the 27 departments responding to that question.

Compared to Table 4c, this table tells us that the range of offers for “freshly completed PhDs” was anticipated to move up $250 about a 2.67% nominal increase from 1965-66 to 1966-67.

Using the BLS web CPI Inflation calculator, one can inflate nominal levels (say for December 1965, the date of the report) to April 2017 using a factor of 7.69.

 

____________________

TABLE 5c
Departments Expect to Have to Offer to Get
“Freshly Completed PhD’s for Next Year, 1966-67

 

MID-POINT OF RANGE

 FROM TO
13,000 0

0

12,500

 0 0
12,000 0

1

11,500

 0 0
11,000 0

6

10,500

 0 7
10,000 5

6

9,750

 0 0
9,500 8

4

9,250

 1 0
9,000 8

2

8,750

 1 0
8,500 1

1

8,250

 0 0
8,000 3

0

N=

 27

27

 

Source: Johns Hopkins University. The Ferdinand Hamburger, Jr. Archives. Department of Political Economy, Series 5, Box 6, Folder 2 “Statistical Information”.

Image Source:  Caption under the drawing: “No class of labor feels the grip of grinding monopoly more than our underpaid, overworked ball-players.”  “The base-ball Laocoon” by L. M. Glackens. Cover of Punch, May 14, 1913. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.

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New PhD Starting Salaries in U.S. Economics Departments (4), 1964/5-1965/66

 

 

This is the fourth table from the so-called “Cartel” summary report from December 1965 of 9-10 month salaries paid in U.S. economics departments. Table 4c give figures for the distribution of salaries for “freshly completed PhD’s” across the departments reporting. Previous postings gave the distribution for full-professors, the distribution for associate professors, and the distribution for assistant professors. The next posting has the anticipated (as of December 1965) range of salaries to hire freshly completed PhD’s for the coming academic year, 1966-67. Refer to the first posting in this series of tables for information about the compiler Professor Francis Boddy of the University of Minnesota and a list of the 30 departments belonging to the Chairmen’s Group.

Using the BLS web CPI Inflation calculator, one can inflate nominal levels (say for December 1965, the date of the report) to April 2017 using a factor of 7.69.

______________________

TABLE 4c
Entering Salaries of “Freshly Completed PhD’s” of New Staff Members
in the Fall of 1965-66 1964-65

 

MINIMUM MEDIAN MAXIMUM
MID-POINT OF RANGE 1965-66 1964-65 1965-66 1964-65 1965-66

1964-65

Over 10,999

 0 0 0 0 1 0
10,500 0 0 0 0 2

1

10,000

 2 0 4 3 7 0
9,750 2 0 4 0 1

0

9,500

 4 1 2 0 2 4
9,250 1 2 3 3 1

3

9,000

 3 6 0 5 3 6
8,750 1 1 3 5 0

1

8,500

 4 5 3 5 2 5
8,250 1 1 0 2 0

1

8,000

 2 3 1 0 1 0
7,750 0 0 0 0 0

1

7,500

 0 1 1 2 0 1
7,250 1 1 0 0 0

0

N=

 21 21 21 25 20 23
Median $9,000 $8,500 $9,250 $8,750 $9,750

$9,000

Mean

 $8,952 $8,583 $9,190 $8,820 $9,600

$8,913

 

Source: Johns Hopkins University. The Ferdinand Hamburger, Jr. Archives. Department of Political Economy, Series 5, Box 6, Folder 2 “Statistical Information”.

 

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Assistant Professors’ Salaries in U.S. Economics Departments (3), 1964/5-1965/66

 

 

This is the third table from the so-called “Cartel” summary report from December 1965 of 9-10 month salaries paid in U.S. economics departments. Tables 3c give figures for the distribution of assistant professor salaries across the departments reporting. Last posting gave the distribution for full-professors and the distribution for associate professors. The next posting has the distribution for entering salaries for new Ph.D.’s. Refer to the first posting in this series of tables for information about the compiler Professor Francis Boddy of the University of Minnesota and a list of the 30 departments belonging to the Chairmen’s Group.

Also there is a table of the anticipated (as of December 1965) range of salaries to hire freshly completed PhD’s for the coming academic year, 1966-67.

Using the BLS web CPI Inflation calculator, one can inflate nominal levels (say for December 1965, the date of the report) to April 2017 using a factor of 7.69.

____________________

TABLE 3c
ASSISTANT PROFESSORS 1965-66, 1964-65

(1)
Median Salaries
All Assistant Professors

MID-POINT
OF RANGE

 1965-66 1964-65
Over 11,249 0

1

11,000

 0 0
10,500 3

0

10,000

 7 1
9,750 2

0

9,500

 6 6
9,250 3

2

9,000

 4 5
8,750 1

6

8,500

 1 2
8,250 1

3

8,000

 1 2
7,750 0

0

7,500

 0 0
7,250 0

1

N=

 29 29
Median $9,500

$8,900

Mean

 $9,402

$8,936

 

 

TABLE 3c
ASSISTANT PROFESSORS 1965-66, 1964-65

(2)
Average Salaries
“Superior Assistance Professors”
(Top 1/3)

MID-POINT
OF RANGE

 1965-66 1964-65
Over 11,249 4

1

11,000

 3 2
10,500 8

5

10,000

 7 3
9,750 2

2
9,500 3 4
9,250 0

3

9,000

 1 3
8,750 1

3

8,500

 0 0
8,250 0

2

8,000

 0 0
7,750 0

0

7,500

 0 0
7,250 0

1

N=

  

29

  

29
Median $10,250

$9,500

Mean

 $10,333

$9,575

 

 

TABLE 3c
ASSISTANT PROFESSORS 1965-66, 1964-65

(3)
Average Salaries
“Average Assistant Professors”
(Lower 2/3)

MID-POINT
OF RANGE

 1965-66 1964-65
Over 10,749 0

1

10,500

 1 0
10,000 5

0

9,750

 2 0
9,500 4

3
9,250 7 1
9,000 2

8

8,750

 4 3
8,500 1

5

8,250

 2 3
8,000 1

1

7,750

 0 2
7,500 0

1

7,250

 0 1
N= 29

29

Median

 $9,300 $8,800
Mean $9,251

$9,063

 

Source: Johns Hopkins University. The Ferdinand Hamburger, Jr. Archives. Department of Political Economy, Series 5, Box 6, Folder 2 “Statistical Information”.

Image Source: Brussells conference, cartel magnate (detail). Postcard from 1902. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA.

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Associate Professors’ Salaries in U.S. Economics Departments (2), 1964/5-1965/66

 

This is the second table from the so-called “Cartel” summary report from December 1965 of 9-10 month salaries paid in U.S. economics departments. Tables 2c give figures for the distribution of associate professor salaries across the departments reporting. Last posting gave the distribution for full-professors. Future postings include the actual salary distributions for assistant professors and freshly completed PhD’s 1964/65 and 1965/66. Refer to the first posting in this series of tables for information about the compiler Professor Francis Boddy of the University of Minnesota and a list of the 30 departments belonging to the Chairmen’s Group.

Also there is a table of the anticipated (as of December 1965) range of salaries to hire freshly completed PhD’s for the coming academic year, 1966-67.

Using the BLS web CPI Inflation calculator, one can inflate nominal levels (say for December 1965, the date of the report) to April 2017 using a factor of 7.69.

____________________

TABLE 2c
ASSOCIATE PROFESSORS 1965-66, 1964-65

(1)
Median Salaries
All Associate Professors

MID-POINT
OF RANGE		 1965-66 1964-65
Over 13,749 3 0
13,500 2 0
13,000 2 1
12,500 6 3
12,000 5 2
11,500 4 3
11,000 3 11
10,500 2 4
10,000 0 0
9,750 0 1
9,500 0 2
N= 27 27
Median $12,000 $11,000
Mean $12,173 $11,093

 

 

TABLE 2c
ASSOCIATE PROFESSORS 1965-66, 1964-65

(2)
Average Salaries
“Superior Associate Professors”
(Top 1/3)

MID-POINT
OF RANGE		 1965-66 1964-65
Over 16,249 0 1
16,000 1 0
15,500 1 0
15,000 2 0
14,500 2 0
14,000 5 2
13,500 6 4
13,000 4 6
12,500 3 3
12,000 0 4
11,500 1 3
 [sic, cell empty] 1 2
 [sic, cell empty] 0 1
N= 26 26
Median $13,000 $12,186
Mean $13,082 $12,159

 

 

TABLE 2c
ASSOCIATE PROFESSORS 1965-66, 1964-65

(3)
Average Salaries
“Average Assoc Professors”
(Lower 2/3)

MID-POINT
OF RANGE		 1965-66 1964-65
14,500 0 0
14,000 1 0
13,500 0 0
13,000 4 1
12,500 4 1
12,000 2 2
11,500 3 2
11,000 7 8
10,500 3 4
10,000 2 4
9,750 0 1
9,500 0 2
9,250 0 0
9,000 0 0
8,750 0 1
8,500 0 0
N= 26 26
Median $11,265 $10,775
Mean $11,640 $10,760

 

Source: Johns Hopkins University. The Ferdinand Hamburger, Jr. Archives. Department of Political Economy, Series 5, Box 6, Folder 2 “Statistical Information”.

Image Source: “The monopolists’ may-pole” by F. Opper.  Centerfold of Puck, vol. 17, no. 425 (April 29, 1885). Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA.

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Professors’ salaries in U.S. economics departments (1), 1964/5-1965/66

 

 

From my March 2017 expedition to the Johns Hopkins University archives’ collection of material from the Department of Political Economy, I came across one of those documents that help to provide an empirical baseline for the history of the market for economics professors. It is worth savouring the sets of tables one by one. In all, this so-called “cartel” summary with information collected from 29 departments in October 1965 consists of eight sets of tables.

On the last page of this summary for full-professor salaries can be found the name of the presumable compiler of the tables: Francis M. Boddy, Graduate School, University of Minnesota. It is dated December 21, 1965.

Two documents later in the same folder I found the list of 30 members of the Chairmen’s Group, dated December 13, 1965. With 29 responses to the salary questionnaire from which the “cartel” data have been assembled, it leaves only to guess which department did not report back to the “cartel”. I do believe that the ironic self-designation of cartel is not entirely contrary to functional fact here.

The salary distributions across the participating departments for associate professors, assistant professors, and for the starting salaries for newly minted Ph.D. hires have been posted in the meantime. Also there is a table of the anticipated (as of December 1965) range of salaries to hire freshly completed PhD’s for the coming academic year, 1966-67.

Using the BLS web CPI Inflation calculator, one can inflate nominal levels (say for December 1965, the date of the report) to April 2017 using a factor of 7.69.

___________________________________

About Francis M. Boddy

Boddy, Francis M, 1115 Bus. Admin., West Bank, Dept. of Econs., U. of Minn., Minneapolis, MN 55455. Phone: Office (612)373-3583;Home (612)926-1063. Fields: 020, 610. Birth Yr: 1906. Degrees: B.B.A., U. of Minn., 1930; M.A., U. of Minn., 1936; Ph.D., U. of Minn., 1939. Prin. Cur. Position: Prof. Emer. Of Econs., U. of Minn. At Twin Cities. 1975-. Concurrent/Past Positions: Acting Exec. Secy., Bd. Of Investment, State of Minn., 1978-79; Assoc. Dean of Grad. Sch. U. of Minn., 1961-73.

Source: “Biographical Listing of Members.” The American Economic Review 71, no. 6 (1981): p. 67.

___________________________________

Research Hint:
Boddy’s data go back to 1957/58

“I have, over the past six years, conducted an informal survey of some 30 of the leading departments of economics in the country, defined largely as being those departments which have been major producers of Ph.D.’s in economics.”

Source:  Boddy, Francis M. “The Demand for Economists.” The American Economic Review 52, no. 2 (1962): 503-08.

 

Also of interest from about the same time is the AER Supplement:

Tolles, N. Arnold, and Emanuel Melichar. “Studies of the Structure of Economists’ Salaries and Income” The American Economic Review 58, no. 5 (1968):

___________________________________

MEMBERS OF THE CHAIRMEN’S GROUP, 1965-66
December 13, 1965

  1. Professor Gerard Debreu
    University of California
    Berkeley, California 94720
  2. Dean R. M. Cyert
    Carnegie Institute of Technology
    Pittsburgh 13, Pennsylvania
  3. Professor Arnold C. Harberger
    University of Chicago
    1126 East 59th Street
    Chicago 37, Illinois
  4. Professor Carl McGuire
    University of Colorado
    Boulder, Colorado
  5. Professor William Vickrey
    Columbia University
    New York 27, New York
  6. Professor Douglas F. Dowd
    Acting Chairman
    Cornell University
    Ithaca, New York
    (Professor Frank H. Golay, the Chairman, is on leave in 1965-66.)
  7. Professor Robert S. Smith
    Duke University
    Durham, North Carolina
  8. Professor John Dunlop
    Harvard University
    Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138
  9. Professor John F. Due
    University of Illinois
    Urbana, Illinois 61803
  10. Professor George Wilson
    Indiana University
    Bloomington, Indiana 47405
  11. Professor Karl A. Fox
    Iowa State University
    Ames, Iowa 50010
  12. Professor Carl F. Christ
    Johns Hopkins University
    Baltimore, Maryland
  13. Professor Robert F. Lanzilotti
    Michigan State University
    East Lansing, Michigan
  14. Professor Warren L. Smith
    University of Michigan
    Ann Arbor, Michigan
  15. Professor E. Cary Brown
    Massachusetts Institute of Technology
    Cambridge 39, Massachusetts
  16. Professor Emanuel Stein
    New York University
    New York 3, New York
  17. Professor John Turnbull
    University of Minnesota
    Minneapolis, Minnesota
  18. Professor Ralph W. Pfouts
    university of North Carolina
    Chapel Hill, North Carolina
  19. Professor Robert Eisner
    Northwestern University
    Evanston, Illinois
  20. Professor Paul G. Craig
    Ohio State University
    Columbus, Ohio
  21. Professor Irving B. Kravis
    University of Pennsylvania
    Philadelphia 4, Pennsylvania
  22. Professor Richard A. Lester
    Princeton University
    Princeton, New Jersey
  23. Dean Emanuel T. Weiler
    Purdue University
    Lafayette, Indiana
  24. Professor Lionel McKenzie
    University of Rochester
    Rochester 20, New York
  25. Professor Edward S. Shaw
    Stanford University
    Stanford, California
  26. Professor Carey Thompson
    University of Texas
    Austin, Texas
  27. Professor James W. McKie
    Vanderbilt University
    Nashville, Tennessee
  28. Professor Alexandre Kafka
    Acting Chairman
    University of Virginia
    Charlottesville, Virginia
    (Professor Warren Nutter, the Chairman, is on leave in 1965-66.)
  29. Professor David B. Johnson
    University of Wisconsin
    Madison, Wisconsin
  30. Professor Raymond Powell
    Yale University
    New Haven, Connecticut

 

Source: Johns Hopkins University. The Ferdinand Hamburger, Jr. Archives. Department of Political Economy, Series 5, Box 6, Folder 2 “Statistical Information”.

 

___________________________________

 

CARTEL
SUMMARY of the October-1965 Questionnaire to Departments of Economics in the United States

SUMMARY of the salary (1965-66 and 1964-65 academic years, 9-10 month basis) and other data of 29 (out of 29) Departments of Economics. N = Number of Departments reporting.

 

TABLE 1c
PROFESSORS 1965-66, 1964-65

(1)
Median Salaries
All Professors

MID-POINT
OF RANGE

 1965-66

1964-65

Over 20,249

 2 1
20,000 4

0

19,500

 0 1
19,000 3

1

18,500

 2 3
18,000 2

1

17,500

 3 1
17,000 2

4

16,500

 2 4
16,000 1

4

15,500

 2 0
15,000 2

1

14,500

 0 2
14,000 3

1

13,500

 0 1
13,000 1

4

N=

 29 29
Median $17,500

$16,500

Mean

 $17,377

$16,319

 

 

TABLE 1c
PROFESSORS 1965-66, 1964-65

(2)

Average Salaries
“Superior Professors”
(Top 1/3)

MID-POINT
OF RANGE

 1965-66

1964-65

Over 23,749

 3 1
23,500 2

0

23,000

 0 0
22,500 3

0

22,000

 1 2
21,500 4

3

21,000

 1 2
20,500 4

2

20,000

 0 3
19,500 2

2

19,000

 2 4
18,500 1

0

18,000

 3 1
17,500 1

2

17,000

 0 0
16,500 2

1

16,000

 0 4
15,500 0

1

15,000

 0 0
14,500 0

1

14,000

 0 0
N= 29

29

Median

 $20,600 $19,500
Mean $20,677

$19,093

 

 

TABLE 1c
PROFESSORS 1965-66, 1964-65

(3)

Average Salaries
“Average Professors”
(Lower 2/3)

MID-POINT
OF RANGE

 1965-66

1964-65

Over 18,749

 4 2
18,500 0

1

18,000

 3 1
17,500 1

1

17,000

 3 1
16,500 3

2

16,000

 5 8
15,500 1

4

15,000

 2 1
14,500 1

1

14,000

 2 0
13,500

2

2

13,000

 1 4
12,500 1

0

12,000

 0 1
11,500 0

0

N=

 29 29
Median $16,100

$15,390

Mean

 $16,192

$15,119

 

Source: Johns Hopkins University. The Ferdinand Hamburger, Jr. Archives. Department of Political Economy, Series 5, Box 6, Folder 2 “Statistical Information”.

Image: From left to right: Monopolies, Uncle Sam, Trusts.

Taylor, Charles Jay, Artist. In the hands of his philanthropic friends / C.J. Taylor. , 1897. N.Y.: Published in Puck, March 10, 1897. . Retrieved from the Library of Congress, . (Accessed May 12, 2017). https://www.loc.gov/item/2012647652/

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Columbia Ph.D. alumnus. Two images of Kenneth Arrow.

Kenneth Arrow, one day before turning 90 years old

 

Many economists are sharing their personal memories of Kenneth Arrow. Today I’ll just share the photo heading this post that I took on August 22, 2011, one day before his 90th birthday. Taking a break from working in the Hoover Institution Archives at Stanford, I visited Kenneth Arrow in his office to interview him about his own graduate education and memories of Columbia University. 

Those same intense eyes can be seen in his 1936 high-school yearbook photo (Townsend Harris High School in Flushing, NY).