| Canada turned out to be frightfully cold and the Master's program at McMaster University was not terribly exciting, but the overall experience was positive. It gave me a chance to continue in graduate school (I was able to collect a modest scholarship to cover my costs), and it confirmed my decision to become an economist. It also gave me a foothold in the New World, which was initially just to be for one year, but which gave me the courage to make a more permanent move when that year was up. |
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| After getting my Master's degree in 1966, I moved to Rice University in Houston, Texas, for my Ph D. My world changed abruptly, what with the culture shock of moving to Texas, at the same time as the rise of student protests against the war, the sexual revolution and the availability and acceptability of all kinds of drugs. A very confusing time for everyone, especially parents. Here I am, giving the secret handsign that I am part of the generation of peace. |
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| In June of 1969, I got married to fellow Rice graduate student Karen Sagstetter. I also got my first teaching job - part-time, at a local Catholic school - which turned out to be a lot easier than my teaching gig in Mali. Here I am celebrating my 26th birthday. |
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| One visible effect of the political and cultural climate was a general and continuing increase in hairiness and colorful clothing. |
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| After we both got our degrees in June 1970, we bade farewell to Houston to head north. First, we drove up to New Haven, where we left our car with friends, then headed for JFK and flew to Paris. Then to London, where we established base camp with my parents in Pinner. From London, we were able to set off on numerous trips all over the UK. Here I am by a lake in the Lake District in northwestern England. |
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| We then returned to New York City, where I taught finance and economics at Baruch College of the City University of New York. It was not a good moment to teach there - the City was a mess and the City University even more so. Following some semi-violent student protests, the administration had instituted a policy of 'open admissions' - which meant that any student graduating from high school in New York City had a right to attend any college in the City University. The results were predictable - horrible overcrowding and plummeting standards. After a couple of years, I had enough of New York, and was happy to move to Rochester, New York, in the fall of 1972 to teach at the Graduate School of Management at the University of Rochester. |
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| Here is the University of Rochester Graduate School of Management Admissions Committee, back in 1974. The hairy one on the left is me, then Lee Schwarz in the background, then Dick Thaler is the hairy one in the foreground, Cliff Smith in the background, his hairy dog in the foreground and Jeff Lasky is the hairy one all the way to the right. You may ask: why did the university entrust such a key job as admissions to such an obviously useless bunch of weidos? I'm still trying to find an answer to that one. |
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