Michael Lovell Memorial Seminar

Michael C. Lovell, the Chester D. Hubbard Professor of Economics and Social Science, emeritus, died December 20, 2018, at the age of 88.  Mike earned a BA in from Reed College in 1952, an MA from Stanford in 1954, and a PhD from Harvard in 1959.  He first taught at Wesleyan as a part-time visiting lecturer during the 1960-62 academic years while an assistant professor at Yale.  After a stint as associate and full professor at the Graduate School of Industrial Administration, Carnegie-Mellon University from 1963 to 1969 (where he was the PhD advisor of future Nobel laureate Dale Mortensen), Mike returned to Wesleyan, where he remained on the faculty until he retired in 2002.

Mike was an eminent scholar whose expertise spanned many fields.  Perhaps best known for his work on inventories and econometrics, he also contributed important articles in economic history, industrial organization, and macroeconomics.  In econometrics, he was one of the authors of the Frisch–Waugh–Lovell theorem and, from 1980 was a fellow of the Econometric Society.  He was president of the International Society for Inventory Research during 1992-94 and was in the first class of fellows of the society.  He served as associate editor of Econometrica, Review of Economic Studies, Journal of American Statistical Association, Journal of Economics and Business, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, Review of Economics and Statistics, and Social Science Computer Review.  He was the author of four books, 60 articles, and more than 25 notes and comments.

Mike was a dedicated an innovative teacher, who taught microeconomics, macroeconomics, statistics, econometrics, public finance, principles of economics, and the economics of education.  He produced several computer-aided instruction packages and authored an innovative calculus-based principles textbook.  The Department’s annual prize for the best undergraduate empirical research paper, the Lovell-Lebergott Prize, is named in honor of Mike and his colleague, the late Stan Lebergott.

Mike is survived by his wife, Adrienne; their four children: Leslie, Stacie, George, and Martin and their spouses; and eight grandchildren.

Below is a video of the seminar held on March 25, 2019 by the Wesleyan Economics Department in memory of our colleague Mike Lovell.

Program

Opening remarks: Joyce Jacobsen

Panel

Duffy White

Gil Skillman

Chris Hogendorn

Wendy Rayack

Richard Grossman