Robert E. Baldwin
April 9, 2011

Robert Edward Baldwin, born in Buffalo New York on July 17, 1924, died in Madison on April 7, 2011. He was Hilldale Professor of Economics, Emeritus, at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. A lifelong academic, Baldwin was one of the world's most influential thinkers on international trade, an adviser to governments and international organizations, and an inspiring teacher much beloved by generations of students who carry forward his light as renowned scholars in their own right.
Graduating from the University of Buffalo, he enrolled in the Harvard and received his doctorate in 1950. In Cambridge, he married his lifelong soul mate, Janice Murphy, mother of his four children, two of whom were born while he was an Assistant Professor at Harvard. During this time, he published his best-known theoretical contribution - the "Baldwin Envelope" - which has been taught widely for six decades and remains part of trade economists' training even today. After Harvard, he moved to UCLA as an Associate Professor where his third and fourth children were born.
In 1960, he took the whole family for a year to Salisbury Rhodesia (now Harare Zimbabwe) while he worked on his theory of trade and development (published as the book "Economic Development and Export Growth: A Study of Northern Rhodesia, 1920-1960"). Soon after returning to UCLA, President Kennedy appointed him as Chief Economist of the newly formed Office of the Special Trade Representative. The family moved to Washington while he worked in the White House helping the US prepare for the GATT trade negotiations known as the Kennedy Round.
After his White House stint, he was appointed professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a position that he held till his death (Emeritus since 1997). He was appointed Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1995, the same year he was elected President of the Midwest Economics Association.
Baldwin was author or editor of 22 books (last one in December 2008) and over a hundred academic articles (the last one in December 2010). His early contributions were mostly to mathematical trade theory, but he also made important contributions to the profession's empirical understanding of global trade patterns. After his time in the Kennedy White House, he wrote several books and many articles on trade policy and trade politics. Throughout his professional life, his interest in trade was interwoven with an interest in and research on developing nations, with a special emphasis on the development-inhibiting effects of tropical diseases.
In addition to his academic positions, Baldwin engaged actively in the policy world. He was on the External Advisory Panel to the General-Secretary of the WTO (2001-03), and in that capacity attended the Ministerial Meeting in Doha Qatar that launched the WTO's ongoing trade negotiations. He often testified before US Senate and House Committees on trade matters, and spent time at the US Department of Labour, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Geneva), and the World Bank (Washington). In an effort to improve US trade statistics, he chaired the National Academy of Science's Panel on Foreign Trade Statistics (1991-92). In his role as policy advisor, he was a member of the Council of Foreign Relations (1968-2011), the US Chamber of Commerce's Committee for Economic Development and the Atlantic Council (1960s and 1970s), and more recently, the International Advisory Board for Ukraine's Economics Education and Research Consortium (1999-2009).
He is survived by his wife Janice, his daughters Jean and Nancy, and his son Richard as well as grandchildren Shari, Dina, Leila, Elise, Robert, Ellen, Julia, and Nicky. He was predeceased by his oldest son, Robert, in 2007.
Baldwin was also an "academic father" to scores of students, inspiring them with his quiet but deeply held passion for combining academic rigor with real-world applicability. Many of his students have become professors in Universities across the world. His vocation is also carried on by his son Richard, and son-in-law Gene Grossman, both of whom are professors of economics specialising in international trade.
The funeral will be held on Saturday April 16th at St. Thomas Aquinas Parish, 602 Everglade Dr. in Madison. Mass will be held at 11:00 with visitation preceding the service. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to the University of Wisconsin Foundation for the Economics Department, 1813 University Avenue, Madison 08526.

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