Richard Theodore Ely American economist, writer Date of Birth: 13.04.1854 Country: USA

Biography of Richard Theodore Ely

Richard Theodore Ely was an American economist and writer born in 1854 in Ripley, New York. He was the eldest child of Ezra Sterling Ely and Harriet Gardner Mason. Although his parents were Presbyterians, Richard was drawn to the Episcopal Church.

He obtained his bachelor's degree from Columbia University in New York City and later pursued further studies at the University of Heidelberg, where he earned a doctoral degree in economics. He also obtained a doctoral degree in law from Hobart College in 1892.

In 1881, Ely began teaching political economy at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. He went on to become a founding member of the American Economic Association in 1885, serving as its secretary until 1892 and later as its president from 1899 to 1901.

From 1892 until 1925, Richard Ely was a professor of political economy at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. He also served as the director of the School of Economics, Political Science, and History at the university. In 1894, there was an attempt to remove him from his position due to allegations of socialist leanings in his teachings, but the attempt failed.

In 1925, Ely moved to Northwestern University in Chicago, where he remained until 1933. Despite being accused of promoting socialist ideas, Ely was actually an opponent of socialism throughout his career.

During World War I, Ely played an active role in creating a public movement to support the war effort through the "League to Enforce Peace." He also chaired the organizing committee for the "Win the War Convention," which took place in Madison in November 1918.

Richard Ely passed away on October 4, 1943, in Old Lyme, Connecticut. The majority of his extensive library was acquired by Louisiana State University.

Some of Ely's most well-known works include "The Past and the Present of Political Economy" (1884) and "An Introduction to Political Economy" (1889). Today, he is primarily recognized as the founding father of the American Economic Association.