In doing some holiday cleaning yesterday, I came across the picture below. Pete and I decided it was worth posting. And with great trepidation, we'll leave comments open.
This is from grad school at GMU, at the Center for the Study of Market Processes colloquium, from the Fall of 1985 (my first semester). For those interested, the guy in the background is Mike Becker (of whom I have lost track) and the woman is Nancy Mitchell Pfotenhauer who was starting her master's at GMU at that time and is now a frequent media commentator on women's issues from a conservative perspective. Her ex-husband Dan Mitchell was also a GMU grad student then, and he worked at Heritage for a long time and is now at Cato and is widely cited on fiscal policy issues.
In thinking about it, I have no idea who took this picture. And I also don't know what happened to the airplanes that matched those goggles!
Steve, what is the black stuff on the top of your head?
Pete looks quiet, contemplative, and inquisitive. Well, he's still inquisitive. :-)
Posted by: Peter G. Klein | December 26, 2007 at 10:59 AM
This is great!
Steve: I'm a fan of the beardless look.
Pete: If you can track down a few extraneous car windshields to be used as lenses, I think you should go back to those glasses frames.
Posted by: Peter T. Leeson | December 26, 2007 at 02:22 PM
Come on guys, you can do better than that, bring out your baby photos like Larry Boland!
http://www.sfu.ca/~boland/past2.htm
Posted by: Rafe Champion | December 26, 2007 at 03:16 PM
Pete,
Those glasses were my attempt to signal my intellectual transition!!! Note I am still wearing the New Balance long sleeve tee-shirt, and a pair a sweatpants, but the glasses were my signaling devices.
The other thing about that picture is that I am 100lbs smaller than I am now. So I would be very happy to go back to those glasses if they entailed a quick fix on that weight issue. The windshield wipers might add weight rather than subtract it.
Pete
Posted by: Peter Boettke | December 26, 2007 at 04:26 PM
What's interesting is that I look 20lbs heavier there than I am now. I think it was the weight of the hair and the coke bottle goggles!
Posted by: Steven Horwitz | December 26, 2007 at 04:56 PM
"The child is father of the man"
-- William Wordsworth
Posted by: Mario Rizzo | December 26, 2007 at 05:21 PM
Wordsworth? Here I thought it was Brian Wilson.
Crazy thing is, when I see the boys today, I still see them as they looked back then.
Posted by: DPrychitko | December 26, 2007 at 06:50 PM
I think it was Don Lavoie who took the picture. Or maybe it was Deb Walker?
And.... to think I married him looking like that!
(thankfully, he listened to me and grew the beard!)
Posted by: Jody Horwitz | December 26, 2007 at 07:01 PM
The original Superbad.
Great photo.
Posted by: Ed Lopez | December 27, 2007 at 10:58 AM
Wouldn't that be Van Dyke Parks?
Posted by: Nat Almirall | December 27, 2007 at 07:51 PM
Come to think of it, it very well could be Van Dyke Parks. I know this -- it isn't that former psychiatrist (or whatever he was)of Brian's.
Posted by: DPrychitko | December 28, 2007 at 08:24 AM
Dr. Landy.
You know this song, Dave?
http://www.lyrics007.com/Barenaked%20Ladies%20Lyrics/Brian%20Wilson%20Lyrics.html
Posted by: Steven Horwitz | December 28, 2007 at 09:37 AM
Yes it was quite an experience seeing those two shining faces in my classroom. They weren't smiling so much in Econometrics though!!
Posted by: angus | December 28, 2007 at 09:47 AM
Kevin,
Yes econometrics --- Prychitko and I thought we found an error in the math in Thiel and brought it to you to write up an econometric theory paper. You wisely told us to just pass your course!!!
I had my struggles in that class, but to this day --- and you can ask anyone --- I always say that you were the best technical teacher I ever had as a student --- absolutely a fantastic teacher of the material.
I imagine you have kept that up over the years.
One of my fondest memories of graduate school, however, was the difference between your syllabus for money, and Selgin's syllabus for money. You had articles from 1985 on one, Selgin had only articles pre-1950. It was such a disjoint it was amazing thing to see.
I also remember both your job talks at GMU vividly. I learned a lot from both experiences.
Pete
Posted by: Peter Boettke | December 28, 2007 at 11:42 AM
What Pete says about lauding your teaching is true Kevin, but the reality was that his "smile" was a grimace, behind which he kept thinking "how the f--k am I gonna pass this class?" :)
Posted by: Steven Horwitz | December 28, 2007 at 12:18 PM
Yea, Steve, I heard that song before.
Kevin -- I agree with Pete that you taught the material, especially the mathematical statistics portion, quite well. I still think we spotted a definite error in Thiel, but I forgot what that error was.
Posted by: DPrychitko | December 28, 2007 at 12:45 PM
Wow, thanks guys. Pete, I remember marvelling when I compared my sylabus for grad macro with Don Lavoie's old sylabus for the same class. Pretty much the same situation as you describe.
I feel bad if I somehow stopped you and David from having careers as theoretical econometricians though!!
I've never had more interesting, challenging, committed students than the ones I had at GMU
Posted by: angus | December 28, 2007 at 03:32 PM
What a beautiful day. Let's meet in Pali.
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