Friday, January 29th, 2010

Faculty, staff and students are invited to attend a service to honor the memory of Professor Harold Hotelling on Feb. 2 at 12:30 p.m. in the Science Building auditorium (S100). Hotelling died on Dec. 29 from injuries sustained after falling on ice in the driveway of his home.  

Members of his family, including his wife, Barbara Hotelling, are expected to attend. The Rev. Jonathan Sams from St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Troy, where Hotelling was a longtime member, will preside over the memorial service.

Dean Hsiao-Ping Moore announced the creation of a memorial fund in Hotelling’s honor. She will match the first $1,000 in donations. The plan is to use the fund to establish the Harold Hotelling Memorial Lecture Series, with the first lecture planned for the fall term.

“Through the years, we relied on Harold for so many things. He was known to be the go-to person for not only departmental and college issues but also campus-wide issues,” Moore said.  “He was a mentor to so many of us.  I am sure that we will all feel the impact of his loss for a long time to come.” 

Hotelling taught the full range of economic courses along with courses in business law, business ethics, Constitutional law, urban social issues, and law and economics.  He served as chairperson of the Department of Humanities, Social Sciences, and Communication from 1994 to 1999 and was a primary advocate for the core curriculum the University continues to use as a foundation for a well educated person.

He served as the University’s pre-law advisor.  He was a long-standing member of the first-year advising team who had a particular interest in assisting undeclared and academically at-risk students.  He was an active and enthusiastic participant in a wide range of campus recruitment events and activities throughout the year.

Hotelling was a very active member of the Faculty Senate, serving several terms as secretary. He took a lead role on the Faculty Handbook Revision Committee of the Faculty Senate and was appointed to work with the provost in the revision of the faculty handbook. 

He was continuously active in course development and improvement.  He was the first faculty member to teach in a Lawrence Tech program in Wenzhou, China.  He developed and frequently taught an enhanced version of University Seminar for students in the Honors Program.  Most recently, he was a member of the first cohort of the Kern Innovative Teaching Faculty, introducing new instructional techniques in “Principles of Economics” as part of a large-scale effort to enhance entrepreneurial education for engineering students.  

Before joining the Lawrence Tech faculty in1989, he served as a naval officer, practiced law in North Carolina, and taught at the University of Kentucky and Oakland University.

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