Memorial Lecture and Reception for the Late Jack Wilson to be Held Nov. 17
The memorial lecture will be presented on Monday, Nov. 17, by one of Wilson’s colleagues, Richard Sylla, Henry Kaufman Professor of History of Financial Institutions and Markets and professor of economics at the Stern School of Business, New York University. He also is a research associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research. From 1968 to 1990, he was a professor of economics at NC State and had served as assistant department head of the Department of Economics for several years while at NC State. He also had been one of Wilson’s co-authors.
Sylla’s memorial lecture will be on the topic: Business Corporations, Entrepreneurship, and Economic Growth in the US, 1790-1860. He will be speaking from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. in 2405 Nelson Hall. A reception will follow, from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. in the Nelson Hall Board Room, 3220 Nelson. All faculty, staff and students at NC State University who knew Wilson are welcome to attend. Please RSVP by Nov. 12 to Vicki Spake, by email or by phone at 919.515.0391.
Wilson had joined the NC State faculty as assistant professor in 1964 and completed phased retirement in June 2002. In addition to teaching, he had served as head of the Division of Multidisciplinary Studies and the Department of Business Management. Wilson was a highly respected researcher and teacher in the area of financial economics, and most recently co-authored journal articles with professors Charles Jones, Robert Clark and Lee Craig in the College of Management. In 2003, he was awarded the Holladay Medal, the university’s highest award for faculty. Wilson was known not only for his contributions to the academic community but also for his loyal friendship and sly, quick-witted humor. He died on August 23, 2008.
About the speaker
Sylla’s current research focus is on the financial history of the United States in comparative contexts. He is the author of The American Capital Market, 1846-191; co-author of The Evolution of the American Economy, and, with the late Sidney Homer, A History of Interest Rates and co-editor of Patterns of European Industrialization – the Nineteenth Century, and The State, the Financial System, and Economic Modernization, as well as numerous journal articles, essays, and reviews in business, economic and financial history.
A former editor of the Journal of Economic History, Sylla also is active in professional associations. During 1998-2000, he served as chairman of the board of trustees of the Cliometric Society, an association of quantitative historians. In 2000-2001, he was president of the Economic History Association, the professional organization of economic historians in the United States. In 2005-2006, he served as president of the Business History Conference, the leading professional association of business historians. Currently, he is a member of the Academic Advisory Board of the European Association for Banking and Financial History, and vice-chairman of the board of trustees of the Museum of American Finance, a Smithsonian affiliate located at 48 Wall Street in New York City. Sylla received his bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees from Harvard University.
