‘A very humble person’: FSU Professor Emeritus James Gwartney remembered as a 'giant'
Florida State University Economics Professor Emeritus and Tallahassee native James Gwartney — often referred to as a “giant” in his profession — passed away early Sunday at the age of 83 after a long battle with pancreatic cancer.
While Scott Gwartney, James’s oldest son, drove his mother, Amy Gwartney, and his three younger brothers to a funeral home Monday afternoon, Amy said she was “broken” and “heart sick.”
“Jim touched people, and he cared. That's it,” Amy, who was married to James for 61 years, told the Tallahassee Democrat. “He cared about them personally and cared about them professionally.”
James Gwartney retired in spring 2022 after serving as an FSU economics professor in the College of Social Sciences and Public Policy since 1968 — teaching for over 50 years — and being director of the university’s Gus A. Stavros Center for the Advancement of Free Enterprise and Economic Education from 2004 to 2015.
Throughout all of Gwartney's achievements in the past 30 years, he made them while being blind due to a degenerative eye disease.
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He earned his bachelor’s degree in economics in 1962 from Ottawa University — which is home to The Gwartney Institute in Kansas — before going on to the University of Washington, where he earned both his master’s and doctoral degrees in economics in 1967 and 1969.
Among Gwartney's significant contributions to academia include coauthoring "Economics: Private and Public Choice” a text that is currently in its 16th edition and contains widely used principles of economics.
In addition, he contributed to creating the Economic Freedom of the World, which is an annual report that has been providing information on the institutions and policies of nearly 150 countries since 1996.
His publications have appeared in both professional journals and popular media such as the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times.
In 1999 to 2000, he served as chief economist of the Joint Economic Committee of the U. S. Congress and was invited by the incoming Putin Administration in March 2000 to make presentations and have discussions with leading Russian economists regarding the future of the Russian economy, according to an FSU biography on his life.
Gwartney was also a member of The James Madison Institute’s Research Advisory Council. The Institute conducts research on issues that include criminal justice, health care and taxes while upholding values such as economic freedom.
Scott Gwartney, an attorney at the Brooks, LeBoeuf, Foster & Gwartney law firm in Tallahassee, described his father as a “world renowned economist.”
He says many of his father's professional contacts — some who traveled from as far as Michigan and Texas to visit while he was ill — often expressed that he was like a father to them as well.
“In the last couple of days, there have been multiple people from the professional world who flew to Tallahassee or drove significant miles here to see and spend time with dad before he passed,” said Scott, 60. “Who does that other than family? That gives you a little bit of a glimpse about what kind of man he was.”
As Gwartney's cancer spread, it came along with issues such as liver failure, which caused tremors and a few other symptoms, according to his wife.
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In a Facebook post, Amy wrote that when Gwartney's doctor asked him whether he wanted to do (further) testing for the pancreatic cancer at Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare or to go home and “let it run its course,” he chose to go home.
“His Christian faith was very, very deep,” Scott said. “Anybody who knew him recognized that his faith is what drove him and helped shape the man that he is.”
FSU’s DeVoe L. Moore Center Director Samuel Staley knew James for 12 years, saying that their relationship grew deeper when he started attending Element3 Church in Tallahassee and going out for lunch after each service.
Even though Gwartney never saw Staley face to face, he knew him by his voice, Staley says.
“Despite his incredible professional accomplishments, that never really went to his head,” Staley said. “He was just a very humble person.”
While funeral services in memory of Gwartney will be held 10:30 a.m. Thursday at Thomasville Road Baptist Church, 3131 Thomasville Road, visitation will be held Wednesday from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Culley's MeadowWood Funeral Home, 700 Timberlane Road.
Contact Tarah Jean at tjean@tallahassee.com or follow her on X: @tarahjean_.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FSU Professor Emeritus, 'world renowned economist' James Gwartney dies
