Edward Daryl Irons (August 29, 1923 – January 17, 2022) was an American economist who was professor and dean emeritus at

Clark Atlanta University Clark Atlanta University (CAU or Clark Atlanta) is a private, Methodist, historically black research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Clark Atlanta is the first Historically Black College or University (HBCU) in the Southern United States. Found ...

. He was founding dean of Howard University's School of Business, and organizer and first president of Riverside National Bank, in

Houston Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

, which was, in 1964, the first bank with a charter given to Black Americans in 40 years. He was also an early president of the National Economic Association.

Early life and education

Irons was born in Hulbert, Oklahoma on August 29, 1923, the third of four children in a partially

Cherokee The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, t ...

family. After graduating from high school as valedictorian of the

Attucks School The Attucks School, also known as Southeast Elementary School or Attucks Alternative Academy, is a site in Vinita, Oklahoma, significant in black heritage. (15 pages, including 3 photos) The building was listed on the U.S. National Register of H ...

, he served in the U.S. Navy. He graduated from

Wilberforce University Wilberforce University is a private historically black university in Wilberforce, Ohio. Affiliated with the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME), it was the first college to be owned and operated by African Americans. It participates in t ...

with a BS degree in business administration around 1948, worked for a year at Tulsa's Moton Memorial Hospital, and then attended the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

, where he graduated in 1951 with an MA degree in hospital administration, winning an award for the best management thesis in his class. He was hired by Oklahoma governor Johnston Murray to manage the Oklahoma state hospital system, resigning when he was unable to raise salaries. He then worked as a business manager for Florida A&M University. He left this position over his participation in the

Tallahassee bus boycott The Tallahassee bus boycott was a citywide boycott in Tallahassee, Florida that sought to end racial segregation in the employment and seating arrangements of city buses. On May 26, 1956, Wilhelmina Jakes and Carrie Patterson, two Florida A&M Uni ...

in 1956, to pursue doctoral work in finance at Harvard. In 1959, he was the second Black person to receive a doctoral degree from

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA p ...

, writing a thesis on "The Organization of a Bank; a Study of Selected New Banks."

Career

Irons was the first president of Riverside National bank in

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

, now Unity National Bank, in 1964. It was the first in a wave of black commercial banks being opened around the US, and Irons served as a consultant to many of these other institutions. He was founding dean of Howard University's School of Business, and served for many years as Dean of

's School of Business.

Personal life and death

Irons died on January 17, 2022, at the age of 98. He was survived by his wife, five children, including Edward D. Irons Jr., 12 grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren.Edward Irons: a dean emeritus at Clark Atlanta University, dies at 98
/ref>

Selected works

* * Yeats, Alexander J., Edward D. Irons, and Stephen A. Rhoades. "An analysis of new bank growth." The Journal of Business 48, no. 2 (1975): 199-203. * Irons, Edward D. "Black Banking—Problems and Prospects." The Journal of Finance 26, no. 2 (1971): 407-425. * Doctors, Samuel I., Allan R. Drebin, Edward D. Irons, and William C. Hunter. "A pilot study of the impact of minority banks on their communities." The Review of Black Political Economy 5, no. 4 (1975): 386-403. * Irons, Edward D. "Black entrepreneurship: Its rationale, its problems, its prospects." Phylon 37, no. 1 (1976): 12-25.

References

External links

The HistoryMakers® Video Oral History Interview with Edward D. Irons, October 13, 2004 and September 24, 2004

Interview of 'Only By Grace' Author Dr. Edward D. Irons By John L. Hanson Jr., Austin Radio KUT 90.5

Edward Irons and Kiplyn Primus, Storycorps Archives, Recorded April 7, 2015
{{DEFAULTSORT:Irons, Edward D. 1923 births 2022 deaths People from Cherokee County, Oklahoma Military personnel from Oklahoma 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American people African-American economists Economists from Oklahoma Clark Atlanta University faculty Harvard Business School alumni Presidents of the National Economic Association University of Minnesota School of Public Health alumni Wilberforce University alumni