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Economists to Convene in Hyde Park to Remember Nobelist Gary Becker

By Sam Cholke | October 29, 2014 7:59am
 The University of Chicago will spend two days memorializing the life and work of Nobel Prize-winning economist Gary Becker.
The University of Chicago will spend two days memorializing the life and work of Nobel Prize-winning economist Gary Becker.
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Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

HYDE PARK — Academics and economists will convene at the University of Chicago on Thursday and Friday to mourn the passing of Nobel Prize-winning economist Gary Becker.

University of Chicago professor James Heckman, who won his own Nobel in economics in 2000, will lead the event with a 11:30 a.m. remembrance on Friday of Becker’s work in behavioral economics.

In 2013 after watching colleagues Lars Peter Hansen and Eugene Fama win the Nobel Prize in economics, Becker recalled how the award had changed his own life in 1992.

“You can’t believe what happens to your life, you become a celebrity,” Becker said. “I recommend it to everyone.”

Becker died on May 3 at age 83 from complications of ulcer surgery.

A memorial service will be held at 2:30 p.m. at Rockefeller Memorial Chapel, 5850 S. Woodlawn Ave., to remember Becker’s work outside of academics.

“Gary had a reputation for being extremely tough. He absolutely terrified people,” Steven Levitt, an economist at the University of Chicago and author of the “Freakonomics” series of books, said in a remembrance. “But not once in 20 years did I hear him raise his voice, or even appear openly angry. People feared him because he could see the truth. At his core, though, he had a deep humanity.”

Many of the events are already at capacity, with economists traveling to Hyde Park from afar afield as Stockholm. Some events, such as the Heckman’s keynote, will be webcast at news.uchicago.edu/webcast.

At 6:15 p.m. on Thursday, the university will dedicate the new home for the research center named in Becker’s honor, the Becker Friedman Institute, at Saieh Hall, 5757 S. University Ave.

A full schedule of events is available at bfi.uchicago.edu/events/becker-memorial-conference.

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