Avis de décès de F. Gerard Adams

F. Gerard (Jerry) Adams, 81, prominent economist who spent the bulk of his career at the University of Pennsylvania, died Saturday, Jan.15 in Newton, MA of complications related to pancreatic cancer. He was the author of a substantial body of research over a distinguished career. After spending 37 years at the University of Pennsylvania, he became the McDonald Professor in the College of Business Administration at Northeastern University in Boston. He completed his final teaching assignment there this last December, 2010. Prof. Adams was born in Breslau, which was then in Germany, on April 28,1929, one of two identical twins. His family emigrated to the United States in 1939 and settled in Saginaw, Michigan. He attended the University of Michigan, receiving an undergraduate degree in 1949 and then continuing on to obtain a Ph.D. in 1956 under the supervision of Lawrence Klein, who subsequently went on to win the Nobel Prize in Economics. After completing his Ph.D., Adams became a business economist in the petroleum industry. In 1961, he joined Klein, who had moved to the University of Pennsylvania, and became a Professor of Economics and Finance there, where he remained until 1998. He helped Klein to create the Wharton Model, one of the first econometric forecasting models using computers to simulate the world economy. It subsequently grew into the Link Model, which forecasts the economy using a variety of input data from smaller models around the world, and which contributed to Kleins Nobel Prize in 1980. Prof. Adams served as the director of the Economics Research Unit at the University of Pennsylvania and a principal investigator on the Link Model. Together with Klein, he was one of the founding members of Wharton Economic Forecasting Associates. While at the University of Pennsylvania, he served in a variety of roles, including chair of the faculty senate. He won several teaching awards there. He held a variety of visiting positions around the world, including positions in Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Australia, China, Japan, France, Denmark, Belgium and Italy. He served on the Council of Economic Advisors in Washington, D.C. during the transition in administrations from Johnson to Nixon and at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in Paris. He testified before congressional committees, the International Trade Commission and as an expert witness in legal proceedings. He was the author of over 250 research articles and over a dozen books, including The Business Forecasting Revolution, East Asian Development: Will the East Asian Growth Miracle Survive?, Macroeconomics for Business and Society, The E-Business and the New Economy, and East Asia and the New Economy." He submitted the manuscript for his newest book Globalization and the New Economy in December. In recent years, he was also an active member of the Newton Economic Development Commission, which advises city officials and staff on issues related to new business, industry and commerce. He also served on the Newton Centre Task Force, and the Comprehensive Planning Advisory Board. He and his wife were avid gardeners, and also both loved to travel. He was fluent in French, German and Italian. Prof. Adams is survived by his wife Heidi Vernon, of Newton, MA, his brothers Peter Adams of St. Petersburg, Florida, and Robert Adams of Santa Cruz, CA, his four children Leslie Martin, Colin Adams, Loren Burton, and Mark Adams, his stepchildren Joshua Wortzel and Jennifer Stiller, his ten grandchildren, and his cats Minou and Maomi, all of whom will miss him greatly. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Adams Prize of the Economics Department at Swarthmore College, 500 College Ave, Swarthmore , PA 19081-1397, a prize given to the best student paper applying quantitative methods to an economic issue or problem.