Many scholars know Professor Gallman for his care,warmth, and insight in asking us to think clearly about our research. What is true of the way he treats fellow scholars is equally true of the way he treats his students. As the committee for teaching in economic history interviewed students, they provided many examples to illustrate his effectiveness in teaching. As one undergraduate reported, Professor Gallman encouraged students to adopt a comparative approach, repeatedly putting current-day episodes in historical perspective. The upshot, the student reported, was that he could more effectively explain economic problems in terms comprehensible to nontechnical friends and colleagues. The ability to communicate with people outside the immediate field of economics or economic history is one to be prized. The committee is therefore delighted to award the Hughes prize to Professor Robert Gallman.

(Durham, NC) I am delighted that Bob Gallman has won the Jonathan Hughes Award for Excellence in Teaching, and of course wish very much that he could be here to accept it personally. Perhaps because I have filled in for him on other occasions -- reading his prepared comments on a paper at last year's meeting, for example -- Bob asked me to accept the award for him and to speak briefly on his behalf tonight. I thought that he might provide me with one of his gracefully written pieces, as he did last year, but instead he left it up to me, although he did assure me that whatever I said would be fine. I am of course only too happy to do this, for as you can imagine I was among those who nominated him for the award, and he has always been there for me throughout my career. And, I like the idea of his giving me carte blanche as to what to say! Nevertheless, I know I speak for everyone here in saying that we miss him and wish him a successful recovery, and would much prefer that he were here to speak for himself.

My first thought was to imagine what Bob would have said. I suspect he would admit that he was honored by the award, but would then allege that there are many other more deserving people. I, on the other hand, believe that this would be an erroneous judgment. There are surely any number of deserving people, but in my opinion none more deserving. Perhaps I am biased because Bob was my dissertation advisor, and thus I have experienced first-hand his ability to both teach and to inspire one to commit to a life of research and teaching in this field.

Sally Clarke, the Chair of the Prize Committee, has already mentioned some of the reasons why Bob was chosen for the award, and because I did nominate Bob for the award I could easily tell you some of the reasons I put forward in that letter. I will not repeat all those comments here. Instead Iwant to highlight one aspect of his classroom teaching and then suggest he is a great teacher in other ways as well.

When I was a graduate student, Bob taught the first course in economic history. As a typical first course it assigned readings on such lively topics as what is economic history and the population explosion in Britain; and asked burning questions such as what could we make of the higher mortality rates found in hospitals? and what was Mantoux really talking about? Of course, as we all do, Bob had assigned a lot of such readings, perhaps not realizing that there was in effect only one copy of most of them on reserve in Wilson Library. If you wanted to read them you usually had to sacrifice your weekend nights to gain access. What you may not have known is that this was a required course; and required not only of economics graduate students but of Business School students as well. So the class of around 20 students or so was heavily populated with people much more interested in marketing and accounting than in the Black Death, and economics students who likely were there against their will (including me). Finally, it took place late in the afternoon, when most of us were ready for a beer or a nap.

I think you have the picture -- a bunch of recalcitrant students being forced to read some god-awful stuff that was hard to get, and then expected to discuss it when we would rather be sleeping!

Bob would then stroll in and page through some tattered, yellow legal pads containing his notes. There were no theatrics to try to hold our attention. Bob was his usual self, showing a quiet but genuine enthusiasm for the material, and in heuristic fashion attempted to get us to see the value of these readings. Amazingly enough, somehow he got us to believe that if only we did grasp this material better, we would see its importance. At that point, we also realized why there were several students from other disciplines who had enrolled voluntarily in the course. So against all odds, Bob succeeded in making that course a valuable one; so valuable that a high percentage of the class would go on and voluntarily take the second semester.

Bob has also taught many of us outside the classroom; he has provided valuable lessons for life. Let me give you two examples.

One lesson is that there is a time for all things. This could mean many different things, but what I have in mind is that at some point in the day or during a conference it is time to slack off and kick back. Bob taught me this early in my career when I attended the EHA meetings in Ann Arbor in 1966. Bob had urged me to go while I was still a graduate student, and found funding for my trip, so that I could talk to Stan Lebergott about his labor force estimates -- which I did, by the way. He also invited me to come by his room prior to the Saturday evening banquet and have a drink. I showed up on time, and apparently those inside were expecting people to arrive late. In any event, the door was open, so I walked in. There stood any number of the big names in the field -- Gallman, Easterlin, Davis, McDougall, maybe Parker, and so on -- all stark naked! Apparently I had arrived a bit early, and caught them all changing after having returned from the swimming pool. Nevertheless, the point was made: even in this profession, there is a time to relax with one's friends.

The other lesson is that one should show modesty in all things (except perhaps in the preceding example). Those of you who know Bob are well aware that he tends to understate things. Let me try to describe that by drawing a contrast with a colleague of mine in sociology. Will Rogers, as you recall, 'never met a man he didn't like'. My colleague far exceeds that. He has never met anyone who isn't 'great, absolutely great'. My colleague has not read a scholarly article that wasn't described as being a 'major, major work'. In one instance I discovered he was describing a book review! Bob Gallman, on the other hand, is more inclined to say 'that was a nice piece,'or 'she is a first-rate scholar, indeed.' You had to take note of those little points of emphasis -- the addition of the word 'indeed' raises the level of praise by a substantial amount.

Although I doubt that I have been imbued with as much modesty as I should, I did have a concern that perhaps I had learned enough to have influenced my letter writing. I feared that my letter nominating Bob for this award was not glowing enough. I had not said that he was a major, major figure in the pantheon of the greatest teachers of all time (although I could). I am then obviously relieved and extremely happy that he has won; Bob Gallman has been a great teacher, indeed.

On his behalf I thank the Association and the Committee.