Purdue News

May, 1989 Horwich Initiated as Phi Beta Kappa West Lafayette, Ind. -- It's no surprise that Professor George Horwich, an economist in Purdue University's Krannert School of Management for more than 30 years, was recently initiated as an honorary member of Phi Beta Kappa. However, because of the timing of World War II, the honor comes some 30 years after he probably would have qualified as an undergraduate student at Wayne State University. In 1943 Horwich volunteered to serve in the U.S. Army after completing a year of undergraduate work at Wayne State. When he returned from the war in 1946 he went to graduate-level studies at the University of Chicago without receiving his bachelor's degree. "Had he taken the time to get the bachelor's degree, he would probably already be a member of our chapter," said Professor Frank Wilson, chairman of the committee on honorary and alumni members for Purdue's Phi Beta Kappa chapter. "We are pleased to grant him the recognition and reward he missed at that time." Horwich joined Purdue's economics faculty as an assistant professor in 1956. He has been chairman of the department twice, from 1967-68 and 1974-78, and is currently the Burton D. Morgan Professor for the Study of Private Enterprise. Horwich has been a senior research associate at the Brookings Institution, a member of the U.S. Treasury Consultants Group, and a consultant to the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. He has also been a senior economist in the policy office and a special assistant for contingency planning for the V.S. Department of Energy. Phi Beta Kappa is a national honor society devoted to recognizing excellence in the humanities. Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu To the Purdue News and Photos Page