Two Professors I owe a lot to…
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Jean-Jacques Laffont 1947-2004 Professor of Economics at University of Toulouse, France Fields: Game Theory, Econometrics, Industrial Organization An overview of
Jean-Jacques’ work |
Lionel McKenzie 1919- Professor of Economics at the University of Rochester, NY, USA Fields: General Equilibrium Theory, Capital Theory Resume Unavailable |
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Jean-Jacques recently passed, which was devastating. Prof. Laffont sent me here in the US to get my Ph.D. in 1987. He is probably the most brilliant person I ever met (on equal footing with Lionel). The last time I met him was at U. of Montreal in 1994. I unexpectedly ran into him in the department’s corridor one evening. As his usual self, he engaged in a short conversation without showing any sign of surprise seeing me there. The basic message to me and another former student of his was “you two, make your mark on this continent”. Jean-Jacques was concise and always drove to the heart of the matter. He also was a great investor in people. |
Lionel taught me mathematical esthetics. His lectures were brilliant with profound insights and driven to circumvent an entire field of mathematical economics. Moreover, Lionel is a southern gentleman with a profound respect for others and a humanistic quality to him, which does not dilute into over-sentimentality. I think of Lionel as a role model of clarity, inventiveness, fun, compassion, and in some respect of the distracted professor. In the early 1990s, U of Rochester econ. held a conference in his honor. That particular time, Lionel was headed to hear the speaker. Not knowing, I knocked on his office door asking him if he had a moment to listen to a sketch of one of my Thesis’ essays (the first and only time I made this request). He chose to hear me out and missed the speaker. |
