Harry G. Shaffer (1919–2009) was Professor in the Economics Department at the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. T ...

. Shaffer was born on August 28, 1919, in

Vienna, Austria en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. Fluent in German, Shaffer served with the US Army as a translator during World War II. He was active in the

Civil Rights Movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement throughout the Unite ...

and the movement against the War in Vietnam.

Life

Harry G. Shaffer was born in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, Austria, to Max Shaffer and Tosca Infeld.Obituary
/ref> He left his native country at the age of 18 in 1938. He lived in Cuba for 2 years while his US immigration visa was pending. He then served the U.S. Army intelligence during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

as a German translator. After the war, the

G.I. Bill of Rights The Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, commonly known as the G.I. Bill, was a law that provided a range of benefits for some of the returning World War II veterans (commonly referred to as G.I.s). The original G.I. Bill expired in 1956, bu ...

paid for four years of school at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

. In those four years, he received both bachelor's and master's degrees in economics and even completed a course towards his doctorate. He then taught economics at Concord College in

Athens, West Virginia Athens is a town in Mercer County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 944 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Bluefield, WV- VA micropolitan area which has a population of 107,578. Athens is the home of Concord University. Hist ...

, for a year and a half. Afterwards moved to the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and largest of the publi ...

where he taught economics for 6 years. In 1956,

Autherine Lucy Autherine Juanita Lucy (October 5, 1929 – March 2, 2022) was an American activist who was the first African-American student to attend the University of Alabama, in 1956. Her expulsion from the institution later that year led to the university' ...

was the first black woman to be admitted to the university. About three thousand students protested this admittance. The University of Alabama expelled Lucy on charges of defamation after she claimed the university did not provide her adequate protection. Along with 28 other professors, Shaffer left the school as he felt he could no longer honorably be associated with the university. "And that's how KU got lucky enough to get me", Shaffer joked to about 500 students in his class at the beginning of every semester. He wrote one popular book called ''American Capitalism and the Changing role of Government'' and about ten scholarly books, including ''The Soviet System in Theory and Practice: Western and Soviet Views'', "The Soviet Economy: Western and Soviet Views," "From Underdevelopment to Affluence: Western, Soviet, and Chinese Views," "The Soviet Treatment of Jews," "Women in the Two Germanies: A Comparative Study of a Socialist and Non-Socialist Society," "Periodicals on the Socialist Countries and Marxism: A New Annotated Index of English Language Publications," "Soviet Agriculture: An Assessment of Its Contributions to Economic Development," and others. Harry Shaffer prided himself on being one of the few American scholars presenting a balanced view of capitalism and socialism by presenting voices from both sides of the table. He also wrote countless scholarly articles, and a popular piece on U.S. History titled "The U.S. Conquers the West." He used to say, semi-humorously, that his specialty, Soviet Economics, no longer existed. He taught at the University of Kansas for 53 years after leaving the

. In the later part of his career, he taught ECON 104, which is the introduction to economics course. The course attracted about 500 students every semester. Shaffer died on November 3, 2009. Harry Shaffer had four children, two stepchildren (with Betty R. Rosenzweig, married in 1987), and seven grandchildren at the time of his death at

Lawrence Lawrence may refer to: Education Colleges and universities * Lawrence Technological University, a university in Southfield, Michigan, United States * Lawrence University, a liberal arts university in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States Preparator ...

Memorial Hospital.

Bibliography

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References

External links

Harry G. Shaffer – Economics Department
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shaffer, Harry G. 20th-century American economists American activists Austrian emigrants to the United States American political writers American male non-fiction writers New York University alumni University of Alabama faculty University of Kansas faculty Economics educators German–English translators 1919 births 2009 deaths 20th-century translators 20th-century male writers 20th-century American male writers American military personnel of World War II