Lipsey Dead at 84
Robert E. Lipsey, an NBER Research Associate, former Vice President for Research, and the Director of the NBER's New York office since 1978, passed away on August 11 at the age of 84. A Professor Emeritus at Queens College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, Lipsey was actively involved in NBER research for more than six decades. He received both his B.A. and his Ph.D. from Columbia University and began working at the NBER in the summer of 1945, after completing his first year of graduate school. His first job was in the Business Cycle Dating unit, and he was also a research assistant to Solomon Fabricant.
Lipsey maintained his interests in international economics and economic measurement, and was an active participant in the intellectual life of the NBER, throughout his professional career. He did fundamental work on foreign direct investment, on the international comparison of investment and saving, and on the measurement of prices and trade flows. He was a central figure in the Conference on Research on Income and Wealth, organizing a number of its most influential projects. He also participated in the CRIW meetings at the just completed 2011 NBER Summer Institute. Bob was a warm and generous colleague to several generations of NBER researchers.
Several years ago, Claudia Goldin interviewed Lipsey about his many and varied experiences at the NBER. This interview was recorded, and it is posted on the NBER's website in the "oral histories" library: https://www.nber.org/nberhistory/oralhistories2.html
It offers an interesting perspective on the evolution of the NBER.