David Landes
Biography
David Landes
David Landes, Coolidge Professor of History and Professor of Economics, Emeritus, has been bridging disciplines throughout his career as an economist and a specialist in the modern history of Western Europe and the Middle East.
Landes received an A.B. from the City College of New York in 1942 and an A.M. and Ph.D. from Harvard in 1943 and 1953, respectively. He returned to Harvard in 1964 as a professor of history and has held various appointments in the fields of history, political science, and economics. From 1981 to 1993, he chaired the Faculty Committee on Degrees in Social Studies, and since 1987 he has been a senior fellow of the Society of Fellows.
His career also found him chairing a panel on Western European Affairs for the Commission of Critical Choices in 1975, which was started by former New York Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller. He has received five honorary degrees.
Landes wrote, The Wealth and Poverty of Nations, Norton Publishing March 1998. He says he "owes about six shorter pieces" to other publishers, and is working on a historical novel. He has also written about clocks and time -- an interest he has pursued for many years.
© 2007 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College