Growing up in western Kansas during the 1930s dustbowl and Great Depression, young Robert Haney Scott watched his mother hand out sandwiches to hungry neighbors and farmers left destitute by drought. The son of two devoted educators, he was inspired to help alleviate such suffering and promote human welfare by making the study and teaching of economics his lifelong career.

Fascinated by the theory and principles of economics but never losing sight of their practical uses and relevance, he shared his insights with passion in lecture halls at home and abroad—teaching for six decades from 1950 to 2011. Nobel Prize-winning economists—including UW’s William F. Sharpe—counted him among their colleagues and credited him for contributions to their work, but he was most touched by letters and notes of thanks from his students.

After serving with the US Army in Korea, Scott graduated from the University of Kansas with a bachelor’s degree in 1949 and MA in 1950, both in economics. He taught at Simpson College in Iowa (1950-51), the University of Nebraska (1951-53), and in the overseas program of the University of Maryland, teaching GIs in post-war England and Germany (1956-57). Back in Kansas, he joined Kansas State University as an instructor (1957-60), followed by a Ford Fellowship at Michigan State University (1960-61).

Scott was awarded his Ph. D. by Harvard University in 1961 and joined the University of Washington the same year, teaching at the UW Foster School of Business for 26 years until 1987, when he retired from UW as a full professor. He then embarked on a second teaching career at California State University, Chico, California, serving as a professor of finance and chair of the finance department, and retiring in 2011 as professor emeritus.

Scott often ventured overseas to teach and conduct research. On a Fulbright Lectureship, he taught economics and statistics at University College, Galway, Ireland (1966-67). Later he had a Fulbright Research Fellowship at the Center for Planning and Economic Research in Athens, Greece (1973-74), also lecturing at Deree-Pierce College and The Athens Graduate School of Business and Economic Science. His work took him to many countries, including Canada, France, Turkey, Egypt, Russia, Uzbekistan, Moldova, Finland, Macau, China, South Korea, Singapore and Hong Kong.

Scott published more than 50 academic papers, dozens of op-eds and letters to the editor, and 15 books, some in collaboration with Foster faculty colleague William Pigott. His titles include The Pricing System, Financial Markets and the Economy, International Finance Management, Principles of Microeconomics, Principles of Macroeconomics, Problems in National Income Analysis and Forecasting, The Hong Kong Financial System, and Money, Financial Markets and the Economy.

Among the topics of his expertise: personal saving, residential finance, the steel industry, public utilities, bank charters, stock markets, strategic investments, bank leasing, economic loss, managerial pay, agricultural economics, debt management, monetary policy, foreign direct investment, interest rates, forest management, public lands preservation, and food stamps.

Written by Ann Scott Tyson, daughter of Robert Haney Scott