November 2, 2016

Dear Members of our Campus Community,

I am saddened to share with you the news that Professor Emeritus Walter Mead passed away on September 29, 2016, at his home in Santa Barbara.

From the very early days of our campus, Professor Mead provided tremendous vision and extraordinary leadership to our university. He joined our Department of Economics in 1957, teaching and serving in various capacities until his retirement in 1991. He served as Acting Department Chair of Economics from 1963-64, and as Divisional Chair of the Academic Senate from 1978-80. He was also a founding board member of our UC Santa Barbara Economic Forecast Project, which was established by the Economics Department in 1981.

Walter earned a master’s degree in political science from Columbia University, and in 1952, he received the University of Oregon’s first Ph.D. in economics. He taught economics at Lewis and Clark College in Portland for a few years, before joining the faculty at UC Santa Barbara. He authored more than 125 publications during his tenure, mostly in the field of natural resources and public policy, and was thesis advisor to several Ph.D. candidates. In 1993, he was honored by the International Association of Energy Economists for “outstanding contributions to the profession of energy economics and its literature.”

Walter, along with his wife, Thelma, generously supported two endowed chairs in Economics as well as graduate student fellowships. I still recall countless graduates mentioning to me over the years the positive influence Professor Mead had on their lives. Through his philanthropy and world-renowned academic contributions, he helped to further enhance the excellence of our Department of Economics for future generations of scholars, leaving behind a strong living legacy in the department and across our campus.

Our thoughts are with Thelma, his wife of 69 years, and their five children, 13 grandchildren, and 11 great-grandchildren. Our campus flag is lowered today, November 2, in honor of Walter’s memory.

A memorial service and celebration of his life will be held at 2 p.m. this Saturday, November 5, in the Mountain Room at The Samarkand Retirement Community in Santa Barbara. In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that donations be made to the Samarkand Benevolent Care Fund, 2550 Treasure Drive, Santa Barbara, CA 93105.

Sincerely,

Henry T. Yang
Chancellor