IN MEMORIAM: Joseph Fuhrig
The free-market community has lost one of its greatest teachers --
Golden Gate University economics professor and Independent Institute
summer seminar instructor Joseph Fuhrig, who passed away on Monday,
March 3rd. The Independent Institute extends its deepest condolences
to his family and loved ones.
Those who were lucky enough to have known Joe will remember him as
exceptionally gregarious, upbeat, and passionate -- about free-market
economics, peace, politics (he ran for governor of California on the
Libertarian Party ticket, garnering 105,000 votes in 1982 and 54,000
votes in 1986), and golf.
But it was Joe's work as an educator that was his greatest
achievement. By his estimation, over the course of three decades he
had taught free-market economics to perhaps as many college students
as had anyone. (If the estimate of 20,000 students is an
exaggeration, it is probably not too far off.)
Joe also made a large impact in pro-liberty activist circles and on
the local lecture circuit. With boundless enthusiasm, he taught
economic reasoning to civic and business groups with his one-man
"Traveling Capitalism Show" and to high school and college students
at the Independent Institute's Summer Seminar in Political Economy.
His upbeat and approachable manner and engaging Socratic teaching
style earned him consistently high evaluations from students
attending the seminars. Professor Fuhrig, wrote one summer seminar
student, was "a humorous, superbly informed teacher." Wrote another:
"Prof. Fuhrig was an extremely interesting and engaging class leader,
and I appreciated the fact that his style was not pedantic, but
rather open to comments, and even taught with a touch of humility."
Coming from students in the middle of summer, such compliments may
seem unusual; for Joe's students, they were typical.
A San Francisco Bay Area native, Joe grew up in the East Bay and
studied economics at California State University, Hayward, where he
earned a B.A. (1970) and M.A. (1973). He then taught economics at
Armstrong College in Berkeley (1974-82), College of San Mateo
(1975-84), San Jose State University (2001-2003) and Golden Gate
University (1981-2003), where he had also served as chairman of the
economics department (and where he had earned an M.B.A. in 1989). He
also served as an adjunct professor or visiting lecturer at the
University of San Francisco (since 2000); Advocates for
Self-Government (1986-1994), Cato Institute (1979-82); Smith Center
for Private Enterprise Studies, CSU Hayward (since 1993), The
Independent School in Wichita. He had also worked as an economist for
Fair-Issac Corporation (1995-2000) and since 1992 had been chief
economist at the Michael H. Clement Corporation.
http://www.independent.org/tii/tii_info/InMemoryOfJosephFuhrig.html
For more information, including details of a March 29th Memorial
Service, see
http://www.independent.org/tii/lighthouse/LHLink5-10-1.html