Milton Friedman’s Coursework in Economics, Statistics and Mathematics

Before Milton Friedman could be a teacher of economics, he was of course the student of many teachers. This list of his relevant coursework and teachers is complete. I merely add here that his transcript also shows three semesters of college French and four semesters of college German and that he entered Rutgers with advanced credits in French.

Rutgers University
University of Chicago
Columbia University
Dept. of Agriculture Graduate School

Rutgers University (1928-32)

	Principles of Economics	E. E. Agger	1929-30
	Money and Banking	E. E. Agger	1930-31
	Statistical Methods	Homer Jones	1930-31
	Business Cycles	Arthur F. Burns	1931-32
	Economic Research	Ivan V. Emelianoff	1931-32
	Principles of Insurance	Homer Jones	1931-32
	College Algebra		1928-29, 1st term
	Analytical Geometry		1928-29, 2nd term
	Calculus		1929-30
	Advanced Calculus		1930-31
	Theory of Numbers		1929-30, 2nd term
	Theory of Equations		1930-31, 1st term
	Differential Equations		1930-31, 2nd term
	Analysis		1931-32
	Elliptic Integrals		1931-32, 2nd term

 

University of Chicago (1932-33, 1934-35)

Econ 301	Prices and Distribution Theory	Jacob Viner	Autumn Quarter 1932
Econ 302	History of Economic Thought	Frank H. Knight	Winter Quarter 1933
Econ 303	Modern Tendencies in Economics	Jacob Viner	Spring Quarter 1933
Econ 311	Correlation and Curve Fitting	Henry Schultz	Winter Quarter 1933
Econ 312	Statistical Graphics	Henry Schultz	Spring Quarter 1933
Econ 330	Graduate Study of Money and Banking	Lloyd W. Mints	Autumn Quarter 1932
Econ 370	International Trade and Finance	Jacob Viner	Winter Quarter 1933
Econ 220	Economic History of the United States, not taken for credit	Chester Wright	Winter Quarter 1935
Econ 220	Economic History of Europe, not taken for credit	John U. Nef	Autumn Quarter 1934
	Labor (visited)	Paul H. Douglas	1934-35
	Theory of Demand (visited)	Henry Schultz	1934-35
Math 306	Introduction to Higher Algebra	E. Dickson	Autumn Quarter 1932
Math 341	Calculus of Variations	G. Bliss	Autumn Quarter 1932
Math 324	Theory of Algebraic Numbers	A. Albert	Winter Quarter 1933
Math 310	Functions of a Complex Variable (not taken for credit)	L. M. Graves

 Master’s thesis: An empirical study of the relationship between railroad stock prices and railroad earnings for the period 1921-31.

 

Columbia University (1933-34)

Stat 111-12	Statistical Inference	Harold Hotelling	Winter/Spring semesters
Econ 117-18	Mathematical Economics	Harold Hotelling	Winter/Spring semesters
Econ 119	Economic History	V. G. Simkhovitch	Winter semester
Econ 128	Currency and Credit	James W. Angell	Spring semester
Econ 211-12	Business Cycles	Wesley Claire Mitchell	Winter/Spring semesters
Econ 315-16	Economic Theory Seminar	John M. Clark, James W. Angell, and Wesley C. Mitchell	Winter/Spring semesters
	Social Economics (visited)	J. M. Clark
	Labor (visited)	Leo Wolman
	Theory (visited)	R. W. Souter

 

Department of Agriculture Graduate School (1936-37)

Statistics 17-18

Adjustment of Observations

Source: Assembled from transcripts and course lists kept by Milton Friedman. Hoover Institution Archives, Milton Friedman Papers, Box 5, Folders 11, 13 (Student years).

Image Source: Columbia University, Columbia 250 Celebrates Columbians Ahead of Their Time.