Samuel L. Myers, Jr.
Roy Wilkins Professor of Human Relations and Social Justice
Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs
University of Minnesota

Dr. Samuel L. Myers, Jr.

Education:

Q: How did you become interested in economics?

A: I learned of the excitement of economics early in life. My idol and role model was Samuel L. Myers, Sr., Harvard-trained economist and professor of economics at Morgan State College. Vivid childhood memories include the stories he told of classes with Schumpeter, John Black, John Dunlop, and of course his thesis supervisor, John Kenneth Galbraith. I spent many long evenings "assisting" in grading student examinations based on numerous drafts of my father's programmed text book on introductory economics. At his knee as a youngster, I distinctly recall discussing coauthoring an innovative, self-paced instruction guide on economics. That coauthored book has not yet come about. But, these early experiences and discussions instilled in me more than 40 years ago the importance of economics in solving the problems of minority communities.

One advantage of growing up in a household that had every edition of Samuelson's Principles of Economics, the entire series of Irwin publications in economics, and every edition of the American Economic Review was that terms like consumption, savings, disposable income and demand and supply were not fully alien to me by the time I got to high school. Surprising even myself, I managed to produce an A+ project on bankruptcy in my senior year of high school. Economics was fun and it came easy to me. After an entirely lackluster high school experience filled more with sports than academics, I was even more surprised to ace the freshman economics exams, when the best and brightest of my peers in the advanced curriculum at Morgan State College found economics remote and confusing.

But more profound, I discovered that economics was relevant and vital to the future of the African American community. The march on Washington and King's "I Have a Dream" speech; the long hot summers of 1964-1967 following the passage of the Civil Rights Act; continued southern resistance to integration; the assassination of King and the ensuing inner-city riots of 1968; the increasingly militant rise of the black power movement; and the national recognition of the disgrace of pervasive racial economic inequality all converged with my undergraduate and graduate school experience of debate and challenge with other young blacks about the role of economic science as the solution to the problems our communities faced. While the majority of my peers rejected the study of economics--after all, neoclassical economics had little effective to say about racism, persistent inequality, and prejudice--a minority of us rightly felt that we needed to master the skills of the oppressor in order to overcome our own oppression.

Q: What have been the major highlights of your career?

A: The years I have spent as a professional economist have provided many valuable experiences--working at the Federal Trade Commission as a senior economist; teaching statistics and international trade in West Africa; researching local community problems in Pittsburgh, Baltimore, and now the Twin Cities. But the most valuable experience has been changing how African Americans and others in the community of color view economic science. No longer are the arcane terminology and mystical graphs seen as useless or irrelevant. No longer are the tools and theories viewed as difficult or remote. Increasingly, economic analysis is within the community of color as an important vehicle for advancement and progress. For those of us who teach and research in the field--originally motivated by the need to help resolve some of the crises facing our communities--these realizations make for refreshing excitement and continuing rewards.