Professor emeritus Angus Maddison deceased

On April 24, 2010 professor emeritus Angus Maddison deceased in Thourotte (France) at the age of 83 years. Maddison was Emeritus Professor of Economic Sociology at the RUG. He enjoys a world-wide reputation as a pioneer in the field of the quantification of economic growth in an international comparative and historical perspective.

Angus Maddison (Newcastle-on-Tyne, United Kingdom, 1926) started as a lecturer in Economic History at St Andrews University in Scotland. From 1953-1979 he held various positions at the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris. In 1969-1971 he worked at the Harvard University Centre for International Affairs. Maddison also held the position of policy advisor for various institutions, including the governments of Ghana and Pakistan. In addition, he visited many other countries and often directly advised the government leaders of countries such as Brazil, Guinea, Mongolia, the USSR and Japan. This enabled him to gain a unique insight into the factors that determine growth and welfare.

In 1978 Maddison was appointed Professor at the University of Groningen. Maddison was a pioneer in the field of the construction of national accounts. To this end he combined modern research techniques with his own extensive knowledge of economic history and in particular countries’ performances in the field of GDP per capita. His work resulted in a deep new understanding of the reasons why some countries have become rich whereas others have remained poor, or have succumbed to poverty. In this vital field, Maddison is regarded as the world’s most prominent scholar. His numerous books and articles are still widely cited. In 2006, he was awarded the title of Commander in the Order of Orange – Nassau on behalf of the Queen of the Netherlands for his life-time achievements.

During his lifetime, Maddison inspired a large group of researchers both through direct guidance (he supervised thirteen PhD theses) and through his large international networks. He is the joint founder and intellectual leader of the Groningen Growth and Development Centre (GGDC), a research group within our Faculty that focuses on long-term economic growth. A statement of his research objectives in the past 50 years can be found on the GGDC website. His homepage also contains an autobiography from 1994.