IN MEMORIAM

Arnold Zellner

Adjunct Professor of Agricultural and Resource Economics

UC Berkeley

1927 – 2010

Dr. Arnold Zellner, adjunct professor of agricultural and resource economics, passed away on August 11, 2010, at the age of 83. He was one of the great thinkers of our times, a wonderful person, and a major contributor to the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics.

 

One of the world's foremost econometricians, he was particularly known for his pioneering work in Bayesian analysis, systems of equations, time series analysis, as well as for his work in applying his revolutionary techniques to data.

 

He was born on January 2, 1927, in Brooklyn, New York, to Ukrainian immigrants, Dora Kleiman Zellner and Israel (Sam) Zellner, who, along with a loving grandmother, reared Arnold and his older brother Norman with a great appreciation for the American freedoms and opportunities denied to citizens of their native country.

 

Arnold attended Harvard University on a scholarship, earning a bachelor’s degree in physics in 1949. Upon completing his tour of duty in the Army, he used his GI Bill benefits to attend the University of California, Berkeley, and earned a Ph.D. in economics in 1957.

 

He held appointments in the Departments of Economics at the University of Washington (1955-1960) and the University of Wisconsin (1961-1966) before accepting an appointment as the H.G.B. Alexander Professor of Economics and Statistics at the University of Chicago, Graduate School of Business (1966-1996).

 

After retiring from the University of Chicago in 1996, he was a frequent lecturer throughout the world. He was a visiting professor (1997-1999) and an adjunct professor (1999-2001 and from 2005) in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, College of Natural Resources, at his alma mater, the University of California, Berkeley.

 

Zellner is survived by his wife of 58 years, Agnes, and their five children, David, Philip (Beth), Samuel (Tena), Daniel (Diane) and Michael (Eugenia); four grandchildren; nieces and nephews; and many close friends, colleagues, and former students.

 

He will be greatly missed.

 

 

Jeffrey M. Perloff                                                                            

2010