Development Economist Gerald M. Meier Remembered

A leading figure in the evolution of development economics who authored books on the subject well into his eighties, Gerald M. Meier, the Konosuke Matsushita Professor of International Economics and Policy Analysis, Emeritus, at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, died from complications of a malignant brain tumor at his home on the Stanford campus on June 21, 2011. He was 88.

Meier's 1964 text, Leading Issues in Economic Development, now in its eighth edition, has been translated to seven languages and is taught in classrooms around the globe. Well known for his good humor and masterful tan, Meier introduced one of the first economic development courses in the MBA world, and was credited with inspiring generations of students to study the economies of less-developed countries.

Meier taught Stanford business and economics students from 1962 until 2005, long after his formal retirement in 1992. Students praised him for his Socratic teaching method and his ability to stay in contact with them decades after graduation. Fond of the beach, health food, and reggae music, Meier, a Rhodes Scholar, taught at Oxford, Williams, Wesleyan, and Yale before being recruited to the Graduate School of Business by then-Dean Ernie Arbuckle, who was building the school into an intellectual powerhouse.

"Gerry Meier was a major contributor to the field of development economics with a worldwide reputation," said colleague George G.C. Parker, Dean Witter Distinguished Professor of Finance, Emeritus. "His arrival on the faculty strengthened our international economics curriculum in a major way. Professor Meier was widely traveled and was among the most in-demand leaders of student study trips to the developing world. His enthusiasm for all things international made him a role model for international scholars at the school."

"An economist is both a trustee of the poor and a guardian of rationality," Meier wrote. But the distance between the two remained a chief concern for him. "As trustee for the poor, the economist respects the values of altruism and economic justice. As guardian of rationality, the economist respects self-interest and efficiency. But does not the future course of development depend in large part on the capacity to combine the seemingly incompatible values of the trustee and the guardian? Can the professional developer combine a warm heart with a cool head?"

Meier authored more than 34 books, and he helped to introduce the field of development economics to U.S. colleges and universities. He lectured frequently at universities in Latin America, Asia, and Western and Eastern Europe. As a consultant to the World Bank, he served on three Bank missions to China.

"Gerry Meier's extensive knowledge of the field and his deep interest in the human aspect of development were evident, and made a huge impression on me, said Dani Rodrik, professor of international political economy at Harvard. ... His book, Leading Issues in Economic Development, has been the companion of a generation of undergraduates getting their first exposure to the field. It is a masterful book that will not be easily replaced."

Born in Tacoma, Wash., in 1923, Meier graduated from Reed College in 1947, became a Rhodes Scholar in 1948, studied economics at Oxford, and received a PhD in that field from Harvard in 1953. In 1954 he married Gretl Slote, who survives him. He is also survived by their four sons: David E. Meier, of Boston, Mass.; Daniel R. Meier, of Berkeley, Calif.; Jeremy Meier, of Sacramento, Calif.; and Andrew Meier, of Brooklyn, N.Y., and six grandchildren.

Diagnosed with a brain tumor in January 2003, Meier underwent surgery and extensive treatment. He was able to continue to work, including editing his final book, and travel.


Full obituary