University of MD Professor wins Nobel Prize!

wisteria · October 10, 2005, 6:22pm

Tom Schelling has published at least three books since 1984: 
Choice and Consequence, 1985,
Strategy and Arms Control, 1986,
Bargaining, Communication and Limited War, 1993.

Moreover, it’s a good bet he’s published numerous articles and given many conference talks since then. (The scholarly reputation of most economists depends far more on their journal articles than on their books.) He is very sharp mentally and very spry physically, according to profs who’ve met with him on trips in recent months.

As for how he wound up at Maryland, here is his own account in an interview he gave last February:

RF: How did you come to the University of Maryland?

Schelling: In the 1980s, Congress passed a law making it illegal for most businesses to have a mandatory retirement age for most employees. But they allowed colleges and universities a seven-year grace period. Harvard, at the time, had mandatory retirement at 70, and I was going to be 70 before the grace period expired. Well, I was in good health, felt that there was more research that I wanted to do, and still enjoyed teaching. So I let it be known that I could be attracted to another university. My first preference was a university in Southern California, where I grew up. But then a former colleague and a very good friend of mine who was dean of the University of Maryland’s School of Public Affairs called, and I told him about my situation. He asked me not to accept another offer until I heard from him. It also turned out that the chairman of the economics department had been my teaching fellow at Harvard in the 1960s. So I had two very close connections at Maryland, and I also knew a few other people on the faculty, like Mancur Olson. Plus, as we have discussed, much of my work is very policy-oriented, which made the Washington area pretty desirable to me. Overall, it seemed like this would be a good fit for me, so when the president of the university made me a very generous offer, I accepted it. I have been at Maryland since 1990. I still teach a class or two, but I am now in an emeritus position.

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As indicated, Tom Schelling had a close working relationship with profs at Maryland long before he was forced to leave Harvard. (Ironically, I believe he had earlier tried to recruit Mancur Olson, a star from Maryland, to come to Harvard, but that hadn’t worked out.) They are both brilliant, outside-the-box thinkers and I imagine the synergy of being at the same institution was valuable.

It should be noted that he is now in emeritus status at both Harvard and at Maryland. That means he is now retired from both places, but is entitled to various privileges (exact nature of privileges depends on the institution, but could include maintaining an office and secretarial support.)

University of MD Professor wins Nobel Prize!

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