Gideon Rosenbluth, CAUT’s president in 1966–1967, died suddenly of a heart attack in Vancouver Aug. 8 while swimming with a friend. He had just spent a happy week with visiting family, taking long walks in the woods he loved, enjoying family meals and discussions. He was a model to family and friends of aging with dignity, wisdom and courage, remaining mentally and physically active until the end.
Born January 23, 1921 in Berlin, Germany, Gideon was the second of three children. The family fled Nazi Germany in 1933, moving to England where he went to school. When the war started, he was part of the group of Jewish refugees interned and shipped to camps in Canada. That experience made him self-sufficient, strong and to some degree shaped his politics. He always was on the left, supporting progressive causes, writing and actively working for social change.
As a professor of economics at Princeton, Stanford, Queen’s, and the University of British Columbia, Gideon was a distinguished academic who held high standards for himself and his students. He taught and wrote about economic theory and its application for the analysis of individual behaviour, corporate organization and government policy. His rigorous approach to scholarship and community involvement was guided by his commitment to social justice.
In addition to serving as CAUT president, he served on the executive and on numerous standing and ad hoc committees. At various times, he was president of the Canadian Economics Association, editor of the Canadian Journal of Economics, an elected member of the UBC senate and board of governors and honoured as a member of the Royal Society of Canada. He was also a founder of the BC office of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, serving on the first research advisory committee.