William B. Bennett ’58

Bill died March 1, 2014, in Oklahoma City.

He came to Princeton from Nott Terrace High School in Schenectady, N.Y. At Princeton, Bill majored in economics and was a member of Cloister Inn. He was active in the Triangle Club orchestra and the Savoyards and was student manager of the University Store.

Bill received a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Rochester. Several years later he was appointed chairman of the economics department at SUNY Buffalo, a position he held for 26 years.

He was a man of profound kindness with a resolute sense of fairness. He was a member of the NAACP and Housing Opportunities Made Equal, immersing himself into educating and empowering poor and disenfranchised people. He infused his economics classes with issues of racism, poverty, environment, and occasionally economic theory.

Bill spearheaded the development and growth of the Stock Market Game, which allows high-school students to compete against one another by investing imaginary money in the market. The game began in a small school in Ontario, Canada, and through Bill’s efforts the game is now played internationally by millions of students.

Bill is survived by his wife, Lee Eddy; son William; his son-in-law, François Bikamba; stepsons Rand Eddy and Rust Eddy; and seven grandchildren. To them all, the class extends its sympathy.