Robert E. Lucas papers, 1960-2004

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Summary

Creator:
Lucas, Robert E. and Economists' Papers Archive
Abstract:
Robert Emerson Lucas, Jr. (1937-2023) was a white American academic economist and Nobel Prize laureate (1995) who was known for developing the hypothesis of "rational expectations." This collection primarily documents his professional life through correspondence, manuscripts, research materials, reports, administrative files, and course materials.
Extent:
27 Linear Feet (47 boxes and one oversize folder.)
96 Megabytes
Language:
Material in English.
Collection ID:
RL.00826

Background

Scope and content:

This collection represents the professional work and career of Lucas during his appointments at the Graduate School of Industrial Administration at Carnegie-Mellon University and the Department of Economics at the University of Chicago. It is arranged into four series: Correspondence, Professional Service, Research, and Teaching.

The Research series contains notes, correspondence, drafts, clippings, reports, and other material related to topics such as business cycles, monetary theory, rational expectations, economic growth, supply side economics, and unemployment.

The Correspondence series contains exchanges with economists and colleagues such as Lucas' collaborators Edward C. Prescott and Thomas Sargent, as well as James Tobin, Neil Wallace, Karl Brunner, David Cass, Edmund S. Phelps, Robert J. Gordon, Robert J. Barro, Leonard A. Rapping, and John B. Taylor. These letters amplify the records in the research files on Lucas' career and research, as well as topics and debates in economics in the 20th century.

In addition to documenting Lucas' work in theoretical economics, the collection also follows his professional activities through files in the Professional Service series. Items relate to his participation on various committees, his editorial and presidential commitments, and his work with institutions such as the American Economic Association, the National Science Foundation, and the National Bureau of Economic Research.

Finally, the Teaching series contains administrative files and course material, such as notes, transparencies, and exam subjects related to Lucas' academic departmental service and teaching career.

Biographical / historical:

Robert Emerson Lucas, Jr. (1937-2023) was a white American academic economist and Nobel Prize laureate who was known for developing the hypothesis of "rational expectations." Lucas was born in Yakima, Washington, in 1937. He attended the University of Chicago, where he received a BA in history in 1959 and PhD in economics in 1964. From 1963-1975, Lucas taught at the Graduate School of Industrial Administration at Carnegie-Mellon University. In 1975, he returned to the University of Chicago, where he was named the John Dewey Distinguished Service Professor in 1980. In 1995, he received the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his work on macroeconomics. Lucas retired in 2015 and passed away in Chicago in 2023.

Acquisition information:
The Robert E. Lucas papers were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library as gifts in 2004 and 2014.
Processing information:

Processed by Danilo Silva and Chris Payne, August 2010; Hyeeyoung Kim, September 2017.

Electronic records processed by Zachary Tumlin, June 2023.

Accessions described in this collection guide: 2005-0063 and 2014-0123.

Arrangement:

The Robert E. Lucas papers are arranged into five series: Correspondence, Professional Service, Research, Teaching, and Oversize Material.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Contents

Using These Materials

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Restrictions:

Access note. Some materials are electronic records that require special equipment. Contact Research Services with questions.

Terms of access:

The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to Duke University. For more information, consult the Rubenstein Library's Citations, Permissions, and Copyright guide.

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Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Robert E. Lucas papers, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Duke University.

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