Memorial Service for Longtime UNL Economics Professor Wallace C. Peterson

Long time UNL department of economics professor emeritus, Dr. Wallace Peterson, passed away on April 15, 2012.

Peterson was an Omaha native who served in the United States Army Air Corps in World War II. He earned his Masters degree from the University of Nebraska in 1948 and he received his Ph.D. on April 28, 1953, writing on “Economic reconstruction in France: 1946-1952” under Professor Clarence E. McNeill.

Wallace Peterson

Peterson went on to devote his long academic career to UNL. He first became an instructor in the department of economics at UNL in 1951. He was promoted to assistant professor in 1954, associate professor in 1957 and professor in 1962. In the 1960's he was a Fulbright Scholar in France. In 1966, Peterson was appointed the George Holmes professor of economics. From 1965-75, he chaired the economics department at UNL, recruiting many noteworthy professors and greatly expanding the graduate program. He also served as President of the Academic Senate, received the Outstanding Research and Creative Activity Award, and the Outstanding Teacher Scholar Award in 1987. He was the 2005 recipient of the Doc Elliot Award given by the Nebraska Alumni Association to faculty whose exceptional caring made a difference in the lives of students. Professor Craig MacPhee, who was recruited by in 1969, credits Peterson for “building an economics department that is nationally recognized today.”

Peterson was a proponent of Keynesian economics whose textbook on macroeconomics was widely adopted in colleges and universities through eight editions. He is the author of another economics textbook, five specialized economics books and over 60 articles. He was elected president of the Association for Evolutionary Economics (AFEE), president of the Association for Social Economics, president of the Midwest Economics Association and was the 1992 recipient of the Veblen-Commons award.

There will be a memorial reception on Friday, April 20 from 1:00 – 3:00 p.m. in the Schorr President’s Suite at Hewit Place, 1155 Q. Street.