Condolences

David Rockefeller (General Course 1938), who died recently at the age of 101, came to LSE to study economics under the powerful free market duo of Lionel Robbins and Friedrich (von) Hayek.

From his autobiography, it would seem he took full advantage of his time at the School, not only attending lectures by the aforementioned intellectual heavyweights but also, among others, those of the great LSE radical, Harold Laski (about whom he was actually quite scathing). While in London, David also got to know the Kennedy brothers – Joe Junior and JFK – and even for a time dated their sister Kathleen.

Urged by Robbins to continue his studies post-LSE (they remained friends until Robbins died in 1984), David made his way to Chicago, where he studied for a PhD in economics, which he was awarded in 1940 at the remarkably young age of 25.

Thereafter David Rockefeller played several important roles as a banker, independent adviser to many American governments, confidant to the global great and good, supporter of the arts, and – in keeping with the tradition of the Rockefeller family – as a philanthropist in his own right.

Indeed, David himself is credited with having donated no less than $2 billion to various good causes, including biomedical research, education, the arts, healthcare and New York City’s urban revitalisation efforts. In an age when it is politically fashionable to be sceptical about, or even hostile towards, ‘elites’  and their comings and goings, it is worthwhile remembering how one of their more generous and humane number left the world a more enlightened and healthier place than when he had first entered it back in 1915.

In many of the obituaries written this past week, little has been said about either the relationship of Rockefeller philanthropy to LSE or indeed of David’s attendance at the School.

The story about Rockefeller philanthropy itself has been told before, and in some detail, in Ralph Dahrendorf’s affectionate and detailed biography of LSE published in 1995. The basic facts are well known. After the First World War, the Rockefellers began to take the social sciences increasingly seriously and, led by the remarkable Chicago-trained political psychologist Beardsley Ruml, contributed enormously to the School, both in terms of LSE’s actual fabric and in supporting serious research across the board. Although not the School’s only source of income in the inter-war period, the Rockefeller support (notably between 1923 and 1937) was certainly of great importance in helping LSE to become regarded as a world class research institution by end of the 1930s – one which to the present day seeks to use the knowledge it creates to understand the causes of things and improve society.

Furthermore, the Rockefellers’ connection to LSE tells us much about the wider and invaluable relationship the School has always had – and continues to have – with the United States. Put simply, LSE has welcomed many thousands of brilliant American students and faculty to Houghton Street over the years, from the sociologist Talcott Parsons through Paul Volker and Daniel P Moynihan, and onto Supreme Court Justice Anthony M Kennedy, who was the swing vote in 2015 establishing a constitutional right to same-sex marriage.

Throughout the School’s history, US alumni have left Houghton Street and gone on to influence government, politics and society. David Rockefeller was one such person – a prominent and distinguished inter-war American LSE alumnus who left an indelible mark on the world.

Professor Michael Cox
Director LSE IDEAS

It is with great sadness that we announce Professor Sir Tony Atkinson, Centennial Professor at LSE, died on Sunday 1 January 2017.

“We are very sad to report that Tony Atkinson died on the first of January. He was 72. Tony Atkinson was one of the most distinguished economists of the 20th and 21st centuries. He profoundly influenced our thinking on poverty, inequality, mobility, public policy and the economics of growth. From his first book in 1969, Poverty in Britain and the Reform of Social Security (Cambridge University Press), to his last, Inequality: What Can Be Done? (Harvard University Press, 2015), he demonstrated the great care and rigour which should characterise serious economics. His approach was: identify the issues, examine the facts and the forces that shape them, and ask what we can or should do. And through his technical work on his index of inequality and on public policy in imperfect economies he showed how analytical rigour could change our understanding. Based on his work on inequality and market imperfections, his was one of the clearest voices challenging the “market fundamentalism” of the 1980s and 1990s.

“He was Tooke Professor at LSE from 1980-92 and Centennial Professor from 2010. He was Chair of the Suntory and Toyota International Centres for Economics and Related Disciplines (STICERD) from 1980 to 1988 and, with its founding chair (1978-80) Professor Michio Morishima, made it one of the world’s leading research centres.

“Tony was not only an extraordinary leader through his writing  but also in his building and reinvigorating of institutions, from his time at Essex (where he went as a professor aged 27) to Nuffield College, Oxford where he was a much loved Warden, 1994-2005. He founded the Journal of Public Economics in 1971 and was editor for nearly two decades. With Mervyn King and Nick Stern he initiated at STICERD the ESRC programme on “Taxation, Incentives and the Distribution of Income” which lasted for 12 years coinciding with his time at the School. This was one of the ESRC’s first and longest lasting research programmes. There are many more examples of Tony building and nurturing institutions that were both of the highest quality and endured.

“His distinction was recognised across the world. For example, he was President of the Econometric Society, of the Royal Economic Society, of the European Economic Association, and of the International Economic Association. He was awarded 19 honorary doctorates.

“He was a great European; the majority of his honorary doctorates were from European non UK universities. He worked in a hospital in a deprived area of Hamburg before going to University. He was involved in the economic analysis of the potential effects of joining the European Economic Community in the early 1970s prior to the referendum on joining in 1975. He was President of the Luxembourg Income Study from 2011 which has made a great contribution to international comparisons of well-being and inequality. He was a member of France’s Counseil d’Analyse Economique, 1997-2001, and was Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur. Last year he was awarded the prestigious Dan David Prize for his work on poverty and inequality (shared with Francois Bourguignon and James Heckman).

“It was not just as an academic and leader of academic institutions that we remember Tony. He was the finest of human beings. His decency, humanity and integrity were profound and extraordinary. He was quiet and understated but deep and strong. He was charming and he could be very funny, including irony of the highest class. He was a special colleague, always ready with his support and wisdom.

“He met his wife Judith (neé Mandeville) at Cambridge as undergraduates when they were 19. They were married for more than 50 years. They shared and reinforced their commitment to making the world a better place and tackling injustice. They took great pride in and strength from their three children Richard, Sarah and Charles, their spouses and their eight grandchildren.
Nick Stern
IG Patel Professor of Economics and Government
Chair of STICERD, 1988-1993

“Tony made fundamental and original theoretical contributions to economics in general, and to public economics and the analysis of economic inequality in particular. He also undertook original and innovative empirical analysis of economic inequalities, and of their relationship to economic institutions such as the welfare state. He made major contributions to applied statistics and the development of social indicators. His work brought the analysis of distributional issues back to a central position in economics. It is no overstatement to say that the modern analysis of economic inequality started with Tony’s 1970 paper in the Journal of Economic Theory.

“Aside from his academic contributions (which made him a leading contender for a Nobel prize), Tony made major contributions to social and public policy in the UK and internationally throughout his career, from his first book (Poverty in Britain and the Reform of Social Security, 1969), to his major report in October 2016 on Monitoring Global Poverty completed as chairman of the World Bank Commission on Global Poverty. In between, he made many other major contributions including to the measurement of government outputs and productivity, and to development of indicators on social inclusion and poverty for the EU. Tony was a pioneer (with Thomas Piketty and Emmanuel Saez) of the study of ‘top incomes’ and inequality.

“Tony will also always be remembered for his outstanding personal qualities. He was sagacious in so many fields and yet so modest and kind, and the epitome of decency, humanity, and collegiality. Despite being very busy, Tony provided many of us friendly but incisive comments on our work, and was a continuing source of encouragement, support, and inspiration. He will be sorely missed.”
Professor Stephen Jenkins
Head of the Department of Social Policy

“He was a remarkable academic and a wonderful colleague who will be sorely missed.”
Professor Julia Black
Interim Director

You can explore STICERD’s wall of remembrance for Professor Sir Tony Atkinson here http://sticerd.lse.ac.uk/atkinson/ 

If you would like to post a tribute to Tony; leave your condolences or share any memories you have of him please comment on this post.

It is with the greatest regret and overwhelming sadness that we inform you that Helen Reece, Associate Professor of Family Law, died on Wednesday 26 October 2016.

Helen studied Law (LLB) at University College London and Logic and Scientific Method (MSc) at LSE. She qualified as a barrister in 1992, and lectured in Law at University College London (1993-1998) and Birkbeck College, where she was appointed Lecturer in 1998 and Reader in 2004. She joined LSE Law as an Associate Professor (Reader) in 2009.

At LSE, Helen taught family law and the law of obligations. Her research focused mainly on family law, but it was much broader in range, characterised above all by the aim to uncover and contest the social and political assumptions behind existing legal rules and prevailing opinion. Her work on adoption, parenthood, domestic violence and, more recently, the law of sexual offences identified her as one of the most original thinkers of her generation. Her monograph, Divorcing Responsibly (2003), on the influence of post-liberal notions of choice on the law of divorce, was awarded the Socio-Legal Studies Association Book Prize in 2004. Helen’s article on ‘Loss of Chances in the Law’, published in the Modern Law Review in 1996, and winner of the Wedderburn Prize in 1997, has been cited with approval by the House of Lords, and been a major point of reference in tort scholarship. With Michael Freeman, she edited several works and collections on the relationship between law and science (Law and Science: Current Legal Issues (1998); Science in Court (1998)). She was a founding member of Institute of Ideas Parents’ Forum, and a member of the editorial boards of Law, Probability and Risk, the International Journal of Law in Context, and the Modern Law Review. She was a regular contributor to radio and television programmes.

This catalogue of achievement does not begin to account for all the qualities that made Helen special to her colleagues in LSE Law, and to her much wider networks of colleagues and friends: her good humour, her keenness to engage with other colleagues’ work, her outstanding record as a teacher and research supervisor, the fearlessness, integrity and sense of duty she brought to all her endeavours. We mourn the passing of a brilliant scholar, and a cherished colleague and friend. Our thoughts and hearts go out to Helen’s partner, John, and their children, Hannah and Ben.

“I was desperately sad to hear the news that Helen died yesterday.  It’s a deep loss for all of us at LSE and a far greater loss for her family. Helen was on the board of the Modern Law Review (MLR), as am I, and in both LSE Law and on the MLR she was a wonderful colleague. She was spirited, engaged, energetic and constantly driving us forward. She was also incredibly supportive, thoughtful and kind. I have her to thank for encouraging me to take on the general editorship of the MLR – she was adamant that it should be a woman for the first time in 74 years! That was typical of her – fiercely principled but personally such a warm and supportive colleague. We will all miss her greatly. My thoughts are with her family and friends at this terrible, terrible time”.
Professor Julia Black
Interim Director

“Helen was a wonderfully dynamic and forceful character, and a tower of strength in her family and in the Department. The freshness, daring and iconoclasm of her scholarship meant that, of anything she wrote, one could without question say that once read, it would not be forgotten. We will all miss her terribly. In due course we will find an appropriate way to honour her, and details about this will be posted on the website”.
Professor Jeremy Horder
Head of LSE Law

If friends of Helen would like to make a donation to charity in her memory, her family inform us that any charity would be appropriate. Helen also supported the work of hospices, such as Marie Curie.

An obituary for Helen can be read in The Guardian here.

If you would like to post a tribute to Helen; leave your condolences or share any memories you have of her please comment on this post.

It was with profound sadness that we learned of the death of Anthony Smith, Emeritus Professor in Ethnicity and Nationalism in the LSE Department of Government, this week.

ANTHONY D. SMITH (1939-2016) was Emeritus Professor of Nationalism and Ethnicity at the London School of Economics, President of the Association for the Study of Ethnicity and Nationalism, and Founding Editor of Nations and Nationalism. He was one of several LSE scholars (who included Ernest Gellner and Elie Kedourie) who made seminal contributions to the theory and comparative study of nationalism. More than anyone else, however, he established nationalism as a separate interdisciplinary field of study by his magisterial overviews that helped create common definitions and classifications through which the different frameworks could be understood.

He published seventeen books translated into twenty two languages, and over one hundred articles and chapters in books on nations, nationalism and ethnicity, in which he developed his ethno-symbolic approach. His main publications included The Ethnic Revival (1981), The Ethnic Origins of Nations (1986), National Identity (1991), Nationalism and Modernism (1998), Chosen Peoples (2003), The Cultural Foundations of Nations (2008), and The Nation Made Real (2013). Another book on music and nationalism is in production.

Through his undergraduate and MSc courses and doctoral workshop, he made the LSE in Walker Connor’s words ‘the Mecca’ for the teaching of and research into nationalism. He, with his doctoral students, established the Association for the Study of Ethnicity and Nationalism (ASEN) which for over 25 years has hosted annual conferences on nationalism at LSE, established two leading journals, and in honour of his teacher, Ernest Gellner, an annual lecture series. He was a dedicated supervisor and many of his students have attained chairs at leading institutions. After his retirement from the Government Department in 2004, he struggled with great tenacity against a debilitating illness. In spite of this, he continued to publish prolifically, to act as editor of Nations and Nationalism, and to support his Professorial successor, John Breuilly, in maintaining the position of nationalism at LSE. He leaves behind a wife and young son.

Dr John Hutchinson
Associate Professor (Reader) in Nationalism, Department of Government

If you would like to post a tribute to Anthony; leave your condolences or share any memories you have of him please comment on this post.

It is with the deepest sadness that we announce the death on 12 February 2016 of Maurice Fraser, former Head of the European Institute.

A personal message from Professor Craig Calhoun, President and Director of LSE:

Maurice Fraser was a friend of LSE from his days as a student through his career in public life to his return as a distinguished leader in the European Institute. Charming, gracious, and a witty conversationalist he brought wide and practical knowledge to the School. He will be sorely missed, not least in the context of the current debates over Europe, on which an LSE Commission he helped found will soon report.

Maurice’s ties to the School stretch over a long period: having been an undergraduate in Government, he returned after 1995 to teach in what was then the new European Institute.  He became Head of the European Institute in 2013, but was obliged to step down in December 2015 owing to ill-health.  Maurice was Professor in Practice, having served as special advisor to three successive British foreign secretaries during the tumultuous historical period of 1989-1995, amongst other posts.  Maurice had wide professional experience, being a member/trustee/chair of a range of public bodies.  Of special importance to him was his work on Europe and, in particular, Anglo-French relations.  He had been educated at the Lycee Francais de Londres and he became Vice-Chair of the Franco-British Council and a contributing editor to ‘Valeurs Actuelles’, a French weekly.  At LSE, he was the Programme Director for the European Institute’s double Masters’ degree with Sciences-Po.  He was made Chevalier de la Legion d’ honneur in 2008 and Cavaliere dell’Ordine della Stella d’Italia in 2015.

Maurice receiving the award of Cavaliere dell’Ordine della Stella d’Italia from the Italian Ambassador to the UK on 7 December 2015

Maurice was the long-term Director of the LSE’s public lecture series on Europe, utilising his extensive professional experience and contacts to make the School the premier UK platform for public debate on Europe.  He was a devoted teacher and was inspired to help bridge the gap between the practical world of policy-making and that of academe for successive generations of the European Institute’s students.

Maurice was widely liked and admired, by both staff and students and across public life.  He was very well-read and had a range of intellectual interests.  Discussion with him was often stimulating, sometimes maddening, but always courteous and fun.  He was a supportive and respectful colleague and he loved LSE.  Latterly, he gave everything to the European Institute – endeavouring to carry on as Head, despite his deterioration and amidst much stress.  It had been his dearest wish to attend last December’s Graduation Ceremony to announce the names of his beloved graduands, but alas this was already not feasible for him.  His family background and his professional experience made Maurice a committed and life-long ‘European’ in his political orientation.  His legacy of service to LSE will ensure that he always remain a cherished part of the European Institute community.  We will all miss him terribly.

The European Institute has received many, many warm personal messages of sympathy from his friends – from across British and European academic and public life – and these reflect Maurice’s character and stature.  Maurice’s family are inviting donations to the Brain Tumour Charity, in lieu of flowers – www.justgiving.com/mauricefraser

Our thoughts and prayers are with Maurice’s family.

Professor Kevin Featherstone

Head, European Institute

Professor Christian Lequesne,of Sciences Po in Paris, has written an obituary for Maurice Fraser in French newspaper Le Monde.

If you would like to post a tribute to Maurice; leave your condolences or share any memories you have of him please comment on this post.