Charles L. Leven, PhD, 82, emeritus professor of economics in Arts & Sciences, died Tuesday, March 15, 2011 in Chicago.
Leven spent nearly 30 years in the department until his retirement in 1991. He was an expert in urban economics.
“Charlie was an institution of the WUSTL economics department for decades,” says Steven M. Fazzari, PhD, professor of economics and associate director of the Weidenbaum Center on the Economy, Government, and Public Policy.
“He was a true character and a good economist with a good heart,” Fazzari says. “I will remember him fondly.”
Leven had served as president of the Regional Science Association and was a Fellow of the Southern Regional Science Association. He served as adviser to many public agencies and published several books on urban and regional and medical economics.
Since 1990, Leven had lectured or served as research advisor at George Mason University, Rutgers University and other universities and advised government agencies and foundations in the United States, such as St. Louis Civic Progress, the Northeast Foundation and the Public Policy Institute of California.
During his long career, Leven lectured at the University of Lodz in Warsaw, Poland; University of Bucharest in Romania; University of Cambridge, the London School of Economics and the University of Reading in the United Kingdom; the National University of Singapore; and Kyoto University in Japan.
He served as adviser to the European Economic Community, the Polish Foundation for Local Democracy and the Ukrainian National Center for Markets and Entrepreneurship.
Leven was the first recipient of the Walter Isard Award for Distinguished Scholarship from the Regional Science Association of the Americas.
Established in 1994, the award pays tribute to regional scientists who have made significant theoretical and methodological contributions to the field of regional science throughout their careers.
A memorial service will be held in July in Milford, Pa., Leven’s home after retiring from the university.