John U. Nef, Economic Historian At Chicago University, Dies at 89
By WOLFGANG SAXON, Published: December 27, 1988, New York Times
Prof. John Ulric Nef, an economic historian associated with the University of Chicago for more than half a century and founder of an elite interdisciplinary graduate department died Sunday at his home in Washington after a long illness. He was 89 years old and had lived in Washington for more than 20 years.
Dr. Nef joined the faculty in Chicago in 1929 as an assistant professor of economics and became professor of economic history in 1936. He wrote many articles and books, several of which remain in print in updated versions.
Known as a philanthropist and patron of the arts, Dr. Nef initially underwrote the interdisciplinary graduate department, the Committee on Social Thought in 1941. He served as its executive secretary and from 1945 to 1964 as its chairman.
Under his guidance the Committee gained wide recognition as a center of intellectual excellence even by the standards that distinguished the University of Chicago under its president at the time, Robert M. Hutchins. Gathering of Luminaries
After the war, Dr. Nef brought to the graduate center many eminent people he had encountered in his travels abroad - among them Marc Chagall, T. S. Eliot, Igor Stravinsky and Jacques Maritain. The center also attracted Hannah Ahrendt and the art critic Harold Rosenberg to its permanent faculty, among others.
Today, it continues to grant the Ph.D. to students only after rigorous training in at least two disciplines. Scholars and intellectuals meet under its auspices for seminars and the exchange of ideas.
Dr. Nef also was chairman until 1968 of a Committee offshoot, the now-defunct Center of Human Understanding.
A native of Chicago, he graduated from Harvard University with the class of 1920. He received his Ph.D. in 1927 from the Robert Brookings Graduate School in Washington, a precursor of the Brookings Institution and then spent a year on the faculty of Swarthmore College. Self-Styled Nonconformist
Engaged in comparative studies of Britain and France, Dr. Nef was a visiting professor at the Institute d'Etudes Politiques in Paris and the College de France in the late 1940's and early 1950's. Over the years, he lectured at universities from Belfast to Houston.
He was a student of the economic, cultural and military history of Western Europe since the end of the 15th century. Among his books reissued since the 1960's were ''The United States and Civilization'' (1967) and ''The Rise of the British Coal Industry'' (1966). ''The Conquest of the Material World'' was published in 1964; his most recent book was ''Search for Meaning: Autobiography of a Non-Conformist'' (1973).
After he moved Washington, Dr. Nef remained a member of a visiting committee of social scientists at the University of Chicago, becoming inactive only in the last two years.
Dr. Nef was an officer of the French Legion of Honor and was decorated with the University of Chicago Medal in 1980.
He is survived by his second wife, the former Evelyn Stefansson. His first wife of 32 years, the former Elinor Henry Castle, died in 1953.
By WOLFGANG SAXON, Published: December 27, 1988, New York Times
Prof. John Ulric Nef, an economic historian associated with the University of Chicago for more than half a century and founder of an elite interdisciplinary graduate department died Sunday at his home in Washington after a long illness. He was 89 years old and had lived in Washington for more than 20 years.
Dr. Nef joined the faculty in Chicago in 1929 as an assistant professor of economics and became professor of economic history in 1936. He wrote many articles and books, several of which remain in print in updated versions.
Known as a philanthropist and patron of the arts, Dr. Nef initially underwrote the interdisciplinary graduate department, the Committee on Social Thought in 1941. He served as its executive secretary and from 1945 to 1964 as its chairman.
Under his guidance the Committee gained wide recognition as a center of intellectual excellence even by the standards that distinguished the University of Chicago under its president at the time, Robert M. Hutchins. Gathering of Luminaries
After the war, Dr. Nef brought to the graduate center many eminent people he had encountered in his travels abroad - among them Marc Chagall, T. S. Eliot, Igor Stravinsky and Jacques Maritain. The center also attracted Hannah Ahrendt and the art critic Harold Rosenberg to its permanent faculty, among others.
Today, it continues to grant the Ph.D. to students only after rigorous training in at least two disciplines. Scholars and intellectuals meet under its auspices for seminars and the exchange of ideas.
Dr. Nef also was chairman until 1968 of a Committee offshoot, the now-defunct Center of Human Understanding.
A native of Chicago, he graduated from Harvard University with the class of 1920. He received his Ph.D. in 1927 from the Robert Brookings Graduate School in Washington, a precursor of the Brookings Institution and then spent a year on the faculty of Swarthmore College. Self-Styled Nonconformist
Engaged in comparative studies of Britain and France, Dr. Nef was a visiting professor at the Institute d'Etudes Politiques in Paris and the College de France in the late 1940's and early 1950's. Over the years, he lectured at universities from Belfast to Houston.
He was a student of the economic, cultural and military history of Western Europe since the end of the 15th century. Among his books reissued since the 1960's were ''The United States and Civilization'' (1967) and ''The Rise of the British Coal Industry'' (1966). ''The Conquest of the Material World'' was published in 1964; his most recent book was ''Search for Meaning: Autobiography of a Non-Conformist'' (1973).
After he moved Washington, Dr. Nef remained a member of a visiting committee of social scientists at the University of Chicago, becoming inactive only in the last two years.
Dr. Nef was an officer of the French Legion of Honor and was decorated with the University of Chicago Medal in 1980.
He is survived by his second wife, the former Evelyn Stefansson. His first wife of 32 years, the former Elinor Henry Castle, died in 1953.
John U. Nef, Economic Historian At Chicago University, Dies at 89
By WOLFGANG SAXON, Published: December 27, 1988, New York Times
Prof. John Ulric Nef, an economic historian associated with the University of Chicago for more than half a century and founder of an elite interdisciplinary graduate department died Sunday at his home in Washington after a long illness. He was 89 years old and had lived in Washington for more than 20 years.
Dr. Nef joined the faculty in Chicago in 1929 as an assistant professor of economics and became professor of economic history in 1936. He wrote many articles and books, several of which remain in print in updated versions.
Known as a philanthropist and patron of the arts, Dr. Nef initially underwrote the interdisciplinary graduate department, the Committee on Social Thought in 1941. He served as its executive secretary and from 1945 to 1964 as its chairman.
Under his guidance the Committee gained wide recognition as a center of intellectual excellence even by the standards that distinguished the University of Chicago under its president at the time, Robert M. Hutchins. Gathering of Luminaries
After the war, Dr. Nef brought to the graduate center many eminent people he had encountered in his travels abroad - among them Marc Chagall, T. S. Eliot, Igor Stravinsky and Jacques Maritain. The center also attracted Hannah Ahrendt and the art critic Harold Rosenberg to its permanent faculty, among others.
Today, it continues to grant the Ph.D. to students only after rigorous training in at least two disciplines. Scholars and intellectuals meet under its auspices for seminars and the exchange of ideas.
Dr. Nef also was chairman until 1968 of a Committee offshoot, the now-defunct Center of Human Understanding.
A native of Chicago, he graduated from Harvard University with the class of 1920. He received his Ph.D. in 1927 from the Robert Brookings Graduate School in Washington, a precursor of the Brookings Institution and then spent a year on the faculty of Swarthmore College. Self-Styled Nonconformist
Engaged in comparative studies of Britain and France, Dr. Nef was a visiting professor at the Institute d'Etudes Politiques in Paris and the College de France in the late 1940's and early 1950's. Over the years, he lectured at universities from Belfast to Houston.
He was a student of the economic, cultural and military history of Western Europe since the end of the 15th century. Among his books reissued since the 1960's were ''The United States and Civilization'' (1967) and ''The Rise of the British Coal Industry'' (1966). ''The Conquest of the Material World'' was published in 1964; his most recent book was ''Search for Meaning: Autobiography of a Non-Conformist'' (1973).
After he moved Washington, Dr. Nef remained a member of a visiting committee of social scientists at the University of Chicago, becoming inactive only in the last two years.
Dr. Nef was an officer of the French Legion of Honor and was decorated with the University of Chicago Medal in 1980.
He is survived by his second wife, the former Evelyn Stefansson. His first wife of 32 years, the former Elinor Henry Castle, died in 1953.
By WOLFGANG SAXON, Published: December 27, 1988, New York Times
Prof. John Ulric Nef, an economic historian associated with the University of Chicago for more than half a century and founder of an elite interdisciplinary graduate department died Sunday at his home in Washington after a long illness. He was 89 years old and had lived in Washington for more than 20 years.
Dr. Nef joined the faculty in Chicago in 1929 as an assistant professor of economics and became professor of economic history in 1936. He wrote many articles and books, several of which remain in print in updated versions.
Known as a philanthropist and patron of the arts, Dr. Nef initially underwrote the interdisciplinary graduate department, the Committee on Social Thought in 1941. He served as its executive secretary and from 1945 to 1964 as its chairman.
Under his guidance the Committee gained wide recognition as a center of intellectual excellence even by the standards that distinguished the University of Chicago under its president at the time, Robert M. Hutchins. Gathering of Luminaries
After the war, Dr. Nef brought to the graduate center many eminent people he had encountered in his travels abroad - among them Marc Chagall, T. S. Eliot, Igor Stravinsky and Jacques Maritain. The center also attracted Hannah Ahrendt and the art critic Harold Rosenberg to its permanent faculty, among others.
Today, it continues to grant the Ph.D. to students only after rigorous training in at least two disciplines. Scholars and intellectuals meet under its auspices for seminars and the exchange of ideas.
Dr. Nef also was chairman until 1968 of a Committee offshoot, the now-defunct Center of Human Understanding.
A native of Chicago, he graduated from Harvard University with the class of 1920. He received his Ph.D. in 1927 from the Robert Brookings Graduate School in Washington, a precursor of the Brookings Institution and then spent a year on the faculty of Swarthmore College. Self-Styled Nonconformist
Engaged in comparative studies of Britain and France, Dr. Nef was a visiting professor at the Institute d'Etudes Politiques in Paris and the College de France in the late 1940's and early 1950's. Over the years, he lectured at universities from Belfast to Houston.
He was a student of the economic, cultural and military history of Western Europe since the end of the 15th century. Among his books reissued since the 1960's were ''The United States and Civilization'' (1967) and ''The Rise of the British Coal Industry'' (1966). ''The Conquest of the Material World'' was published in 1964; his most recent book was ''Search for Meaning: Autobiography of a Non-Conformist'' (1973).
After he moved Washington, Dr. Nef remained a member of a visiting committee of social scientists at the University of Chicago, becoming inactive only in the last two years.
Dr. Nef was an officer of the French Legion of Honor and was decorated with the University of Chicago Medal in 1980.
He is survived by his second wife, the former Evelyn Stefansson. His first wife of 32 years, the former Elinor Henry Castle, died in 1953.
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