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Weekly UpdatesThe thirty-fifth anniversary of the International Atlantic Economic Society was celebrated in October 2008 at our Montreal conference. As part of that event, the first Lifetime Achievement Award was presented. For IAES members who could not attend the meetings, the following is a transcript of the remarks made.
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"This is a very special occasion. Not only is it the thirty-fifth anniversary of the International Atlantic Economic Society, but it is also the first time in the Society's history that we have given a Lifetime Achievement Award. The Lifetime Achievement Award goes to a very special individual, one who has been the heart and soul of the Society from the very kernel of its beginnings.
It is a double privilege to present our Lifetime Achievement Award to Professor Ralph William (Bill) Pfouts, First, it is a privilege to present this award because of his scholarly and intellectual accomplishments in almost 60 years as an Economist. Professor Pfouts has, over those years, left an indelible mark on our profession in many different areas, Second, it is a privilege to have an opportunity to formerly thank Bill for being a guiding light of the IAES for these past 35 years.
As a young PhD, fresh out of school, I had a dream to establish an organization that would bring together economic scholars from around the world. An organization that would cross political boundaries and be open to all economists- not just those from particular universities or those expounding a single school of thought. I wanted it to be an organization that would open its arms to younger members of the profession, as well as to more senior colleagues... And 1 wanted to do all of this across national boundaries- to create a rich, culturally diverse organization and it was Bill who came to that very first organizational meeting that I held just outside of Richmond, Virginia.
He patiently listened as I explained the goals and objectives of such an organization. Fortunately, he joined me in support of this vision and kindly offered to help the dream become a reality. Since that very first meeting, he has always been there, always working for the Society. Through his efforts, the IAES was created as a not-for-profit organization.
But Bill did not stop there. Year after year, he freely contributed endless hours upon hours of his time, guidance, and patient understanding to that young PhD. Bill has been a mentor over all of these years to myself, to many of you in our audience today, and to our overall organization. Professor Pfouts served as a mainstay and backbone of the Board of Editors of the Atlantic Economic Journal, a position he has held since the inception of the journal 35 years ago. It is through his leadership that the journal became one of the premier publications in economics. In 2007, he became the first person to be honored with Emeritus board status. From 1973-76, he became vice president of IAES and later served as president from 1977-78. In 1986, Bill was awarded the position of Distinguished Associate in the Society.
Born in Atchison, Kansas in 1920, Bill went to the University of Kansas where he received his B.A. and M.A. Later, he went to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where, in 1952, he received his PhD in Economics. He joined the faculty at Chapel Hill, remaining there until his retirement in 1987. During his tenure, he served as Chairman of Graduate Studies from 1957-62 and Chair of the Department of Economics from 1962-68.
His impact on the economics profession over his illustrious career cannot be overstated. Many of his former students have gone on to become intellectual leaders in our profession. Bill's primary research activities originally included micro theory, mathematical methods and models, and economic methodology. In his more than 15 publications in the AEJ, he constantly strove to make economic theory more realistic. He felt that assumptions underlying the theory should describe reality, should be as complete as possible, and should be clear, logical, and not contrary to fact.
In more recent years, he extended his research to include economic transitions in Eastern and Central Europe. This research led Bill to be commissioned as guest editor for a special June 1994 issue of the AEJ on the subject. Later, he was also commissioned to do a special issue of the September 1995 AEJ to celebrate the 100th birthday of Harold Hotelling.
In addition to his work with the society, he was a fellow at the University of Cambridge, a Ford foundation faculty research fellow, a visiting Professor at M.I.T, and Vice President and President of the Southern Economic Association. He has served on several editorial boards including the Southern Economic Journal, and the quarterly Journal of Ideology.
Professor Pfouts and his wife June now live in Boise, Idaho. Unfortunately, they cannot be with us today to receive the award. A photograph of the award is on display at the conference registration desk. We will deliver the award to Bill at the end of this conference.
IAES members, his former students and colleagues, other members of the profession, and especially myself, owe our deepest gratitude to Professor Pfouts for his years of selfless service to our society and to the profession."
John M. Virgo
Executive Vice President
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