Advertisement

Colleagues Mourn Schumpeter Loss, Join in Tributes

Comments and tributes to Professor Joseph A. Schumpeter came yesterday from fellow members of the Economics Department and from the master of Dunster House, where Schumpeter was an Associate:

Edward S. Mason, A.M. '20, dean of the School of Public Administration: "Schumpeter was one of the three or four great economists of his generation. He had left an impress both by his writing and teaching on this whole generation of economists."

Gottfried Haberier, Warburg Professor of Economics: "Schumpeter was a great economist because he was more than an economist. He himself used to say that an economist who is not also a historian, who does not know a fair amount of mathematics and logic, who is not familiar with statistical methods, is not qualified for this profession. He was all these and more besides. He had no real among living economists as a universal scholar, and his premature death will be mourned all over the world."

Seymour E. Harris '20, professor of Economics: "Schumpeter was the greatest living economist. He was a great teacher and made very important contributions in almost every field of economics."

Harold H. Burbank, Ed. '15, chairman of the Economics Department: "Schumpeter was one of the really great men of his time. One of his contributions to Harvard was his broad acquaintance with the economists of Europe, as well as those of this country."

Advertisement

Edward S. Chamberlin, professor of Economics: "Professor Schumpeter was intensely devoted to the advancement of economic science, to his writing and above all to his students. His loss will be deeply felt by economists the world over."

Arthur Smithies, professor of Economics: "Professor Schumpeter was one of the most profound students of capitalism the world has produced. His warm and generous personality made him one of the best friends that anyone could hope to have."

Gordon M. Fair, master of Dunster House: "Professor Schumpeter has been associated with Dunster House almost since its inception. Busy with world affairs as well as his teaching. Professor Schumpeter nevertheless found time to take an interest in the meetings of the staff and students of the House. A native of the Austro-Hungarian empire, he brought a certain old-world courtliness into this dealings with men. This manner pointed up the elegance as well as the intellectual quality of his mind and word."

Alfred H. Conrad '45, 3G, assistant to Professor Schumpeter: "Professor Schumpeter was an exciting teacher who projected into us some of his tremendous need to grapple with problems and to test everything within his own reason Professor Schumpeter lived intellectually on a truly large scale; we have all gained from his life."

Advertisement