People, Locations, Episodes

Sir William Arthur Lewis, Economist born

William A. Lewis

*Sir William Arthur Lewis was born on this date in 1915. He was an Afro Caribbean economist, educator, and Nobel Prize, winner.

From St. Lucia, he was the fourth son of George Ferdinand and Ida Lewis. He was educated in St. Lucia up to the Secondary Level. He proved during this time to be quite a scholar. Later he entered the London School of Economics, where he distinguished himself as a student of Economics. His excellence was rewarded when at the age of twenty-three, he was made a lecturer. During this time, he published numerous papers and pamphlets.

Lewis, in 1947 married Gladys Jacobs and had two daughters, Elizabeth and Barbara. Between 1951 and 1957, he was Stanley Jevons Professor of Political Economy at Manchester University.  During this time, he was also an adviser to numerous governments and served as an adviser to underdeveloped countries.  He advised the Ghanan government in 1953 and 1957. He also served in the same capacity in Nigeria, Trinidad, and Barbados. He had also been on numerous United Nations Commissions.

He won a Nobel Prize in 1979, with Theodore Schultz, for pioneering research on economic development in emerging countries. He published a book, The Theory of Economic Growth, in 1954 that is regarded as a seminal study in the field. In this book, he advocated the development of infrastructure, education in all its areas, and specialization in agriculture and high employment.

Arthur Lewis also served as Vice Chancellor of the University of the West Indies, adviser to the British Colonial Development Corporation, Chancellor of the University of Guyana, Professor at Princeton University, and Chairman of the Caribbean Development Bank. Sir Arthur Lewis died on June 15th, 1991. He is buried on the grounds of Sir Arthur Lewis Community College in St. Lucia, and a marked the end of a distinguished St. Lucian and Caribbean patriot.

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