WILLIAM J. BARBER

William J. Barber, Andrews Professor of Economics, Emeritus, died on Wednesday at the age of 91.

Bill arrived at Wesleyan in 1957 after receiving his B.A. from Harvard University and completing a Rhodes Scholarship and earning a B.A., M.A., and D. Phil. from Oxford University.  He taught at Wesleyan for 37 years before retiring in 1994.  Bill was actively engaged in the leadership of the University throughout his time here.  He was a founding member of the College of Social Studies, served as chair of the economics department and faculty secretary, and was appointed by the Board of Trustees as Acting President for three months in 1988 until President Chace assumed the office.

Bill was a productive scholar who published widely, including A History of Economic Thought, which after its release in 1967 became a standard in the field of economics for decades and was translated into seven languages, including Chinese, Japanese, Swedish and Farsi.  He published eleven other books as author or editor, and hundreds of articles on economic trends and developments in the United States, Africa, Britain, Europe, India, and other areas of Asia.  He was the recipient of many honors and awards throughout his distinguished career, including the George Webb-Medley Prize in Economics from Oxford in 1950 and a Ford Foundation Foreign Area Fellowship for study in Africa from 1955-57, and he was twice appointed a research associate of the Brookings Institution.  In 2002 he was honored as a Distinguished Fellow of the History of Economics Society and in 2005 received a Doctor of Letters (Hon.) from Wesleyan. Bill served as the American Secretary for the Rhodes Scholarship Trust from 1970 to 1980; during this tenure he was instrumental in opening the Rhodes Scholarship to women and his service to the Trust was recognized by the British Government through his appointment as an honorary member of the Order of the British Empire.

Bill’s friend, Richard Miller, said: “Bill was a valued friend and colleague for over half a century. He provided guidance, counsel, and support to me and to many others. The economics department and the University have been immeasurably stronger for his contributions and his leadership.”

Born a Midwesterner and having survived World War II as an infantry soldier, Bill found in Wesleyan his intellectual and emotional home.  He loved the classroom as well as the intellectual freedom that the University offered.  He was devoted to his family and is survived by his wife, Sheila, who herself has long been an active member of the Wesleyan community, and his sons, Charles, John, and Tom, their wives, and six grandchildren.

Memorial contributions in Bill’s name may be made to Middlesex Hospital Hospice and Palliative Care at 28 Crescent Street, Middletown, CT 06457.  A memorial service on campus is planned. –By Joyce Jacobsen, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, Andrews Professor of Economics