Thrift Essay Prize Papers, 1930, 1932

In 1868, the University had a Commercial Department which was expanded into the School of Commerce in 1871.¹ In 1895, four colleges and several departments, including economics, were approved with the ranking instructor in each department as the head.² Accordingly, the then ranking instructor David Kinley became the head of the Department of Economics.³ In 1902, new courses in business administration were included in the Economics Department and David Kinley, head of the department, became the Director of the Department of Economics.⁴ In 1914, the business courses were separated from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.⁵ The College of Commerce and Business Administration was formally organized in 1915 with three departments: economics, business organization and transportation.⁶ In 1951, the Cleary Committee on the Organization of the College of Commerce and Business Administration was formed to investigate the reorganization of the College. At this time, a group within the Department of Economics felt that the department should be transferred to the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. This was not done and the department remained part of the College of Commerce and Business Administration.⁷ The course work of departments in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences is organized into groups, one of which is the Division of Social Science, consisting of economics and other departments.⁸ In 1950 the faculty of the Department of Economics voted to change the organization of the department to one with a chairman.⁹ In 2004, the Department of Economics, including its graduate program, was transferred to the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Recommended by both colleges, it was determined that economics fit well within the social sciences discipline in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.¹⁰ Responsibilities of the department include sponsorship of a traveling scholar program, a computer laboratory, area study centers, the Midwest Universities Consortium for International Activities (funding for dissertation research at overseas locations), Omicron Delta Epsilon (national honorary society in economics) and workshops, seminar series and lectures.

1. Board of Trustees Transactions, 1st Report, 1868, p. 195; 4th Report, 1870-71, p. 46.

2. Board of Trustees Transactions, 18th Report, February 13, 1895, p. 70.

3. Board of Trustees Transactions, 19th Report, March 9, 1897, p. 72.

4. Board of Trustees Transactions, 21st Report, December 10, 1901, p. 208.

5. Board of Trustees Transactions, 27th Report, June 9, 1914, p. 763.

6. Board of Trustees Transactions, 28th Report, April 27, 1915, p. 244.

7. Board of Trustees Transactions, 46th Report, May 18, 1951, p. 724.

8. Board of Trustees Transactions, 38th Report, April 20, 1935, p. 161.

9. Board of Trustees Transactions, 45th Report, January 12, 1950, p. 969.

10. Board of Trustees Transactions, 72nd Report, June 17, 2004, p. 574.