Advancing Economics, Transforming Lives

April 2009

Hathaway Fund Established

Gary Seevers, an accomplished economist and financial market specialist whose career has encompassed academia, government service and private sector financial markets has provided a gift to seed a memorial fund for former faculty member Dale Hathaway, who passed away in September 2007.  Other friends such as Raleigh Barlowe, Les Manderscheid, Ralph Hepp, and Jake Ferris have joined Seevers in supporting the fund. 

Hathaway served on the MSU Department of Agricultural Economics faculty and was Dr. Seevers’ major professor.  Hathaway, who focused on international trade in his research, and also served as Department Chair, went on to become a project officer at the Ford Foundation, founding Director of the International Food Policy Research Institute, Undersecretary for International Affairs and Commodity programs at USDA, and executive Director of the National Center for Food and Agricultural Policy.  According to the IFPRI web site, Hathaway, in a 2005 speech, said, “Trade negotiations require continued support through impartial facts and analysis. Granted, trade negotiations will remain a political business. The idea that rationality will drive negotiations is an illusion. On the other hand, relying on solid and impartial facts will help us all to become more effective.”

Dr. Gary Seevers

A 1959 graduate of MSU, Seevers was a 4-H extension agent before returning to MSU where he earned his masters and doctoral degrees in agricultural economics. Seevers feels that his experience at MSU is representative of both the intent and potential of the land grant university philosophy. He credits MSU with having had a profound effect on his education and professional accomplishments.

Like Hathaway, Seevers has enjoyed a successful and varied career.  After being on the faculty at Oregon State University, he served on the President’s Council of Economic Advisers, and President Gerald Ford appointed him to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.  He joined Goldman, Sachs & Co., subsequently retiring as a partner.

This is not Seevers’ first major gift to MSU.  He also developed and co-funded the Gordon and Norma Guyer and Gary L. Seevers Chair in Natural Resource Conservation. Designed to help prepare students to become leaders in natural resource conservation and find answers to the challenges of managing the environment, the chair reflects national concerns. According to Dr. Patricia Norris, first holder of the Guyer-Seevers chair, “The endowment is allowing me to focus on how natural resource conservation activities benefit local economies.  Understanding these processes will ultimately result in higher living standards in the U.S. and elsewhere.”