Memoriam

Memoriam

C. Harry Kahn

Harry Kahn was born in Franfurt-am-Main, Germany, in September 1921. With the Seizure of power in Germany by the Nazis, he moved with his family to England, and subsequently to the United States. In this country, he studied at the Watkins Institute in Nashville, Tennessee, and later received his bachelor's degree at Vanderbilt University. He did his graduate work at the University of Wisconsin, where he received his master's and doctor's degrees.

Before coming to Rutgers in 1958, Harry Kahn was for six years a member of the staff of the National Bureau of Economic Research in New York City, and he retained this connection with the Bureau while at Rutgers. Previously he taught at the University of Wisconsin and the College of the City of New York. He also served in the late 1940s and early 1950s as a consultant to the city of Milwaukee and the State of Wisconsin, studying their tax and other fiscal problems.

Beginning with his graduate work at the University of Wisconsin with Professor Harold Groves, Harry Kahn devoted his major intellectual energies to the field of public finance. He published three major books in this area-Personal Deductions in the Federal Income Tax in 1960, Business and Profesional Income Under the Personal Income Tax in 1964, and Employee compensation Under the Income Tax in 1968-as well a numerous articles. His work and his testimony before Congressional committees and other public bodies won him a well-deserved reputation as an outstanding authority in the field of public finance.

Harry Kahn was a highly valued teacher and colleague during his years at Rutgers. His outstanding strength was the invaluable guidance and direction he gave to his graduate students and younger colleagues in their research efforts. He insisted on the highest standards of intellectual effort and integrity both for himself and his associates. During his last years, Harry Kahn fought valiantly against a painful and relentless disease. Until the last week of his life, however, he continued his teaching and other work with the bravest of perseverance. His death occurred on April 28, 1972. pdf Read Richard Musgrave's memorial lecture (1.31 MB) .

H. Peter Gray

Dr. H. Peter Gray, 91, of Belle Mead, NJ, passed away peacefully in Arden Courts, Yardley, PA, on Jan. 21, 2016. Dr. Gray was born in Cheltenham, England, on July 4, 1924, the son of the late Frederick James Gray and Annie (Burch) Gray. He was educated at Cheltenham Grammar School, served as a pilot in the Royal Air Force during World War II and earned degrees in Modern Languages and economics at Queens College, Cambridge. In 1953, Dr. Gray emigrated to Canada, and in 1956, to the United States, where he married Jean (Mathieson) Gray. He and his wife moved to California, where they both pursued and earned Ph.D.s in economics at the University of California, Berkeley. On completion of his course work at Berkeley, Dr. Gray accepted a fellowship at the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC, and then a professorship at Wayne State University in Detroit, MI. In 1968, he accepted a professorship at Rutgers University in New Jersey, where he remained until his retirement in 1990.

During his long academic career, Dr. Gray authored or co-authored 22 books and over 150 articles and served as president of the Eastern Economics Association and the International Trade and Finance Association. Dr. Gray also taught at universities in Thailand, China, Denmark and Costa Rica, and lectured for the United States Information Agency in a broad group of countries ranging across the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific. In his spare time, he was an ardent scuba diver, loved solving crossword puzzles, especially the Sunday New York Times, reading murder mysteries, attending the theatre, and enjoying good food and wine with friends and family. Dr. Gray is survived by his wife of 59 years, Jean. Donations may be made to Queens College, Cambridge. Please go to www.queens.cam.ac.uk/alumni-support/giving-to-queens. Please designate Queens as the recipient and note that the donation is in memory of H. Peter Gray.

Robert C. Stuart

  • Portrait

Robert C. Stuart passed away in Bellingham, Washington after a long illness. He is survived by his wife, a son, daughter, grandson, and brother.

Robert C. Stuart was born in British Columbia, where he attended the University of British Columbia, before completing his dissertation in economics at the University of Wisconsin in 1969. Robert served as a faculty member at Rutgers University from 1968 until his retirement in 2005. Bob taught for many years at Princeton, filling its gap in Soviet/Russian economics. He served as chair of economics at Rutgers from 1976 to 1979 and from  1986 to 1989. Robert edited Comparative Economic Studies from 1997 to 2002. Many of today's scholars of comparative economics got their first publications under Bob's editorship. Read more from Paul Gregory's memorial to Bob in the journal, Comparative Economic Studies.

Read more: Robert C. Stuart

Manoranjan Dutta

  • Portrait

1925-2015

Professor Manoranjan (Jan) Dutta, one of the first economists of Indian-American heritage, died on February 22, 2015, from complications after a stroke. A professor emeritus at Rutgers University, he pioneered American engagement with Asian-Pacific economies. He chaired the National Advisory Council for South Asian Affairs and served as President of the Board of Trustees of the American Committee on Asian Economic Studies (ACAES). ACAES is an organization he founded in 1982 to build new initiatives in the study of Asia in collaboration with economists in China, Thailand, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia and all over Asia. In 1990, he founded the Journal of Asian Economics. From an initial two issues a year, the Journal expanded to its present six. Read more from daughter Kavery Kaul's tribute.

dutta

Professor Manoranjan (Jan) Dutta, one of the first economists of Indian-American heritage, died on February 22, 2015, from complications after a stroke. A professor emeritus at Rutgers University, he pioneered American engagement with Asian-Pacific economies. He chaired the National Advisory Council for South Asian Affairs and served as President of the Board of Trustees of the American Committee on Asian Economic Studies (ACAES). ACAES is an organization he founded in 1982 to build new initiatives in the study of Asia in collaboration with economists in China, Thailand, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia and all over Asia. In 1990, he founded the Journal of Asian Economics. From an initial two issues a year, the Journal expanded to its present six.

The author of many books like The Asian Economy and Asian Money and The United States of Europe: The European Union and the Euro Revolution, he specialized in the economics of globalization. A Fulbright Senior Specialist, he was a frequent guest lecturer in the U.S. and internationally.

Born in India on October 1, 1925, he received his B.A. from Presidency College and his M.A. from the University of Calcutta. In 1958, he arrived as a Fulbright Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School where he became the first student to earn a Ph.D. under Nobel Laureate Lawrence Klein. In 1962, he joined the Rutgers faculty, offering students their first courses in the then-new field of econometrics.
A student leader in India's fight for independence, in the U.S. he battled for the rights of Indian-Americans, uniting the community as a social, cultural and political force in America. In 1967, he founded the Association of Indians in America (AIA), the oldest organization of Asian Indian immigrants in the United States with chapters nationwide. He is survived by his wife Kanak, his daughter Kavery, and his grandchildren Usha and Ashok. His life had a fullness that leaves ours less filled.