George I. Treyz (1936 - 2013)

AMHERST - George I. Treyz, 76, died at his home in Amherst on Feb. 14, 2013. He is survived by his wife of 54 years, Sidney; his son Victor and daughter-in-law Susan of San Francisco; his son Frederick and daughter-in-law Enhua of Amherst; his brother Russell and sister-in-law Alice of New York; and six grandchildren, Claire, Henry, Peter, Eric, Justin and Athena.

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of António Simões Lopes, founder of Regional Science in Portugal, dean of the Technical University of Lisbon, first chairperson of the Association of Economists, and president of the Council of Deans of Portuguese Universities.

Simoes Lopes, who was a professor at the Higher Institute of Economics and Management (ISEG), was researcher at the Centre for Economics and Finance from Gulbenkian Institute of Science, and integrated several international research teams in areas of Regional Development and Urban Development.

Doctorate in Economics by Oxford University, received doctorate honoris cause from the Universities of Kent, UK, Federal do Maranhao, Brazil, Algarve and Coimbra.

He was also honoured in France with the degree of Knight of the Order of Merit. And in Portugal, with the Grand Cross of the Order of Public Instruction and the Grand Cross of the Order of Prince Henry.

He was researcher at the Center for Urban and Regional Research of ISEG.

Our colleague, Stan Czamanski, died recently. He was President of the Regional Science Association in 1975-76. He was a professor emeritus of city planning and regional science at Cornell University. Stan was a world expert in economic and industrial development. He served as deputy director of UNDP for Asia, as advisor to a variety of governments, including Iran, Brazil and Canada. He led the preparation of and participated in a multitude of urban and regional development plans. His book on Regional Science Techniques in Practice is considered a classic. He was the first to formulate the concept of competitive industrial complexes.

Our colleague, Mark Henry, recently passed away. He was professor emeritus at Clemson University, South Carolina, where he worked most of his career. He was a Research Fellow at the Rural Development Research Consortium, University of California-Berkeley, from 2003-2006. He was elected Fellow of the Southern Regional Science Association in 2004, and he received the David E. Boyce Award for Distinguished Service to the Field of Regional Science in 2000. He served a a Councilor of the North American Regional Science Council. Other services include: President, Southern Regional Science Association, 1990-91, Executive Director and Secretary-Treasurer of Southern Regional Science Association, 1980-89, and Board of Editors of the Review of Regional Studies, 1992-current, Papers in Regional Science 2001- 2010; Growth and Change, 2005. Mark developed an extensive body of research in Regional Economics, particularly in economic impact analysis, economic development, rural-urban linkages and income distribution issues. Mark published extensive nationally and internationally and was a regular attendees of regional conferences.

"John Quigley was an extraordinarily distinguished academic, a great mentor for his students, and an untiring contributor to the Goldman School and the University of California. In just the past three years he published 22 articles. Since 1990 he has been a member of an astounding 84 PhD Committees and he chaired 26 of them. In just the past two months, even though he was on leave and quite ill, he was actively helping the school in its recruiting efforts. Personally, John had exceptionally high standards for himself, and he helped make all of us better through his example and his generosity. As Dean, on several occasions, he helped me solve very difficult problems by offering his wise counsel and by jumping in to help solve them. John epitomized all that is best in academia: path-breaking scholarship, rigorous standards, mentorship for students, and unceasing service to the institution. He is irreplaceable."

Henry E. Brady; Dean, Goldman School of Public Policy; University of California Berkeley

 A memorial event for John's family, friends, students, and colleagues will be held on the Berkeley campus on the afternoon of June 9.  As plans are made, details will be posted at:  http://gspp.berkeley.edu/news-events/quigleyObit.html

Cards for Mary Curran (John's wife) can be sent to the attention of Megan Land in at:

A SAD NEWS (once more) FROM  THE MEXICAN ASSOCIATION, AMECIDER.

On the 3rd of January 2012 a highly distinguished and much appreciated member of our Association, Dr. JOSE LUIS CECENIA GAMEZ, after 96 years of a life plenty of human and professional achievements, passed away. Professor Cecenia –whom several of you knew personally-  was the key figure in laying the foundations of our Association. He not only invited 20 persons to formally establish it, but was elected by them as its first President, in 1994. Ever since, he was appointed for life as its Honorary President.

He was particularly keen in endowing it with a mature and legal statute and with its main objectives and courses of action. But he also strove to jealously keeping its independency in regard to political and economic negative influences. He will be always remembered for bestowing on our country a solid scientific association.

We invite all of you who witnessed his wholehearted friendship and entire commitment to the cause of regional science, to join us in our mourning, and to help us achieve in fullness his legacy. MAY HE REST IN PEACE.

Charles Leven was President of Regional Science Association International in 1964-65. He died on March 15, 2011.

 Charles Leven Obituary (26.49 kB)

Alexander Granberg, Russian regional scientist passes away.

Aug. 24—Academician and regional scientist Alexander Granberg died Aug. 22 2010, in his 75th year. He had remained active as Russia’s senior specialist on integrated economic development projects, serving as chairman of the SOPS (Council for the Study of Productive Forces, a joint government-Academy body which is the successor of Academician Vladimir Vernadsky’s KEPS organization). Academician Granberg was a member of the Presidium of the Academy of Sciences, headed its Regional Studies Council, and had earlier been chairman of the Russian National Committee on Pacific Ocean Economic Cooperation.
Based in Novosibirsk for many years, Granberg designed and guided many projects for Siberia and the Russian Far East, including the current national plan for the development of those regions, and was working on the Industrial Urals-Polar Urals project design in recent years. Victor Ishayev, Presidential Representative for the Far East Federal District, released his telegram of condolences to the Russian Academy of Sciences and Granberg’s family, which he sent from Kamchatka on the Pacific coast, where Ishayev, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, and others are holding meetings
on fisheries-related infrastructure development. Ishayev wrote:
“Academician Alexander Grigoryevich Granberg was a famous scientific economist, an outstanding
teacher, and the author of works on regional economic development. . . . We valued his reverent attitude toward Russia’s Far East, and his participation in drafting the Federal Comprehensive Socioeconomic Development Program for the Far East and Transbaikal, as well as his
work on specific infrastructure projects. Granberg was a frequent and much welcome guest in the East of our country. We will miss him.”
In April 2007, Academician Granberg chaired the Moscow conference on “Megaprojects of the Russian East: A Transcontinental Eurasia-America Transport Link via the Bering Strait,” a SOPS-sponsored event to which Lyndon LaRouche’s invited contribution was the paper, “The World’s Political Map Changes: Mendeleyev Would Have Agreed” (EIR, May 4, 2007, http://tiny.cc/dmpss). The following month, at the 80th birthday celebration of Prof. Stanislav Menshikov, Granberg offered a memorable toast to the completion of the Bering Strait tunnel by the year 2027. In 2009, Granberg endorsed Helga Zepp-LaRouche’s call to put the “La-Rouche Plan to Save the World Economy,” onto the world’s agenda

Founder of regional science, Walter Isard, dies aged 91.

 Walter Isard obituary (16.74 kB)

RSAI is deeply saddened to report the death of Andrew Isserman

Andrew Mark Isserman (1947-2010)

Andrew Isserman died unexpectedly on November 4, 2010 of an apparent heart attack after engaging in basketball game in preparation for a faculty-graduate student challenge match.  At the University of Illinois, Andy was Professor of Regional Economics, Planning and Public Policy with primary appointments in the departments of Agricultural and Consumer Economics and Urban and Regional Planning and affiliate appointments in the Institute of Government and Public Affairs and the Department of Geography.

After completing his doctoral work at the University of Pennsylvania (David Boyce was his advisor), he moved to Illinois for the first of two appointments at that institution.  He was an Assistant Professor in both Urban and Regional Planning and Economics, receiving promotion to Associate Professor in 1977.  In 1981, he joined the faculty of the University of Iowa as an Associate Professor of Planning, Geography and Economics; he was promoted to Professor in 1984.  A year later, he moved to West Virginia University where he directed the Regional Research Institute upon William Miernyk’s retirement. At West Virginia, he also held appointments in Economics and Geography and for eight months he served as Interim Assistant Provost for International Affairs. He remained at WVU until 1998 when he returned to Illinois with a small detour  to serve as Research Director of the Public Policy Institute of California.  From 2002-2004, he was the head of the Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics at Illinois.

Andy was a passionate scholar, whether it was research, teaching, advising students, serving on committees, or helping to promote regional science; his energy level was always high.  He loved to walk around campus engaged in conversation and was often reluctant to leave a meeting or a classroom.  He was an innovative teacher, who emphasized learning-by-doing and used a variety of approaches to engaging students with material.  In addition to more standard courses in urban and regional analysis, economic impact analysis, and federal program analysis, he conducted a film and writing course on regional cultures and economies. His take was that whether it was film, narrative, quantitative articles or even personal experiences, effective story telling was a critical component to understand how systems, especially the regional economy, worked.

Andy was the founding editor of the International Regional Science Review and was forever proselytizing for innovative articles and contributions during the twenty years (1976-1996) he served in this position.  His experiences in this role were translated into two doctoral courses in regional development that helped build students’ research and writing skills. His teaching was recognized over many years as among the University’s best.

His research on federal policy, often conducted with graduate students, has contributed to changes in several federal programs. He conducted applied research for the U.S. Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Energy, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, and Transportation. He has been scholar-in-residence or fellow at the U.S. Bureau of the Census, Appalachian Regional Commission, and Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture.

He pioneered methods for analyzing and forecasting economic and demographic change.  Perhaps, some of the most cited work centers on his experimentation with matching regions in the search for ways to isolate the impacts of policies or programs.  He is listed as one of the 50 faculty members with the greatest number of citations in urban and regional planning and among the 100 all-time intellectual leaders of regional science.  He received awards or fellowships from the American Planning Association, American Statistical Association, National Council for Geographic Education, and Regional Science Association International.  His activities in regional science were extensive.  He served as President of the Southern Regional Science Association in  1991-1992.  In 1999, he received the David Boyce Award for Service to Regional Science of the North American Regional Science Council, and in 2005 he was President of the North American Regional Science Council.