Lionel W. McKenzie *56

Lionel McKenzie, the Wilson Professor of Economics emeritus at the University of Rochester, died Oct. 12, 2010. He was 91.

McKenzie graduated from Duke in 1939, and was awarded a Rhodes scholarship to Oxford. Due to the war, he was unable to attend, and served in the government and then in the Navy from 1943 to 1945. He received a master’s in economics from Princeton in 1946. Before completing his Princeton Ph.D. in 1956, McKenzie did attend Oxford as a Rhodes scholar and taught at MIT and Duke.

McKenzie came to Rochester in 1957 to establish the graduate program in economics. From 1967 until he became emeritus in 1989, McKenzie was the Wilson Professor. His research made him prominent in contemporary mathematical economics.  

He played a key role in fostering Japanese scholars, and actively promoted Japan-U.S. academic exchanges. In 1995, he received the Order of the Rising Sun from the Japanese government for his lifelong contribution to economics and to the Japanese nation.

McKenzie was predeceased by his wife, Blanche, and also a son and a daughter. He is survived by his son, David.

Graduate memorials are prepared by the APGA.