Arthur Lewis is best known for theoretical models designed
to explain the problems of underdevelopment.
He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth in 1963.
The Nobel Committee recognized Professor Lewis jointly with
Theodore W. Schultz “for their pioneering research into economic development
research with particular consideration of the problems of developing
countries.”
Quotes from Arthur Lewis’ September 1984 lecture at
Let me come back to my academic
program. I gather that the sponsors of
this set of lectures hope to see how one’s thinking is tied to one’s
environment. I am not a very good
example. I began by showing you that I
became an economist when I really wanted to be an engineer, became a university
teacher because there was nothing else for me to do, and became an applied economist
because that was my mentor’s subject.
The next phase of this story continues in the same vein. I am not complaining; fate has been kinder to
me than to most other persons. I am
merely recording what happened.
Looking backward over my life, it has
been a queer mixture. I have lived
through a period of transition and therefore know what it is like at both ends,
even though the transition is not yet completed. I have been subjected to all the usual
disabilities – refusal of accommodations, denial of jobs for which I had been
recommended, generalized discourtesy, and the rest of it. All the same, some doors that were supposed
to be closed opened as I approached them.
I have got used to being the first black to do this or that, which gets
to be more difficult as the transition opens up new opportunities. Having to be a role model is a bit of a
strain, but I try to remember that others are coming after me, and that whether
the door will be shut in their faces as they approach will depend to some small
extent on how I conduct myself.
Additional resources on Arthur
Lewis are available at the Nobel web
site.