G. Edward Schuh memorial

Ed Schuh had the great distinction of being technically competent, thorough in his research, acclaimed in his accomplishments both here and overseas, and a fine human being with so much kindness devoted to others. He was always devoted to and appreciative of his family and he took time to encourage those of us in his periphery -- even when he had better things to do.

God bless Ed and his wonderful family.

Uncle Ed was a adorable persons. When in my gramma home, while he was working or studing, his best place to be was in the dinner table, in the middle of the rush we have in the kitchen, so he could talk and listen to everyone. Everytime anyone comes to him, specially the kids, he stopped whatever important things he was doing and pay some attention. That give us all a lot of joy, and I´m sure, he felt so happy too!

When my sisters and I were young, we complained a lot about how my dad was always gone and missing out on a lot of our school activities and dance/athletic competitions. My mom would always explain to us that my dad was involved in really important work and making significant contributions to poverty reduction around the world and making the lives of children and families better so that they would have a chance to have a better life, like our parents had given us. When I think back to that time, I realize that it was still hard for us, but we tried to understand.

As we have gotten older, I think all three of us realized how special my dad really was and will always be. The contributions he made professionally to world agriculture and poverty reduction are clear and the letters, calls, and e-mails that we have received in the past 3 months are a token to just how much he impacted people all over the world as well as agricultural development. But, as a father, my dad was amazing. He was tough on us, always ensuring that we learned multiple languages, studied hard and learned about and understood different cultures. More importantly, he and my mom taught us to be strong women and always pushed us to achieve more than we thought we could. He set us up for life.

He also taught us that others do not define who we are – but, rather, that we define ourselves and he always believed in us, which made us believe in ourselves. Despite his busy schedule, he was always there for us – not only when we were children, but even more as adults. He did and will always inspire us to push ourselves to be the best people that we can be. We are all very proud of him for his professional accomplishments - but, we are even more proud to have had him as our dad. We will miss him dearly.

Dear Ignez, Audrey, Susan and Tanya
Please accept my late condolences as I’ve just learned of the death of Prof. Schuh when I received the Humphrey News today. To me, Prof. Shuh has been always a great teacher with a great understanding and care to his students including international students.
Duong Van Thanh (Vietnam)

G Edward was a formidable figure at the WB to a very young woman straight from the island of Trinidad in the '80s; cowered by his renown, phenomenal brain, and prolific output (which translated into tons of work for others). But he was also a genuine human being with a big heart. He saw the awe, trepidition and hard work of a little island girl and, despite rules to the contrary, authorized my participation in the WB GATT team to Geneva — to broaden my horizons he said with a twinkle in his eyes and a dead pan face. His wee act of kindness to a nonentity from a little dot in the ocean has never been forgotten.

Professor Schuh was a great mentor. He shared with his students his knowledge, and his advice. I am sure that all his students will remember him with enormous love.

Daniel Linares (Lima, Peru)

To Ed's Family:

I just learned of the death of Ed. He was a great friend, mentor over many years to so many of us at the World Bank and at USDA--and a extraordinary professional--with the current crises in the world food system, his wise counsel, careful analysis and steady hand will be greatly missed.

Susan and I send our condolences to you all-we miss him.

Gus and Susan Schumacher (Washington, DC)

To Ed's Family:

I just learned of the death of Ed. He was a great friend, mentor over many years to so many of us at the World Bank and at USDA--and a extraordinary professional--with the current crises in the world food system, his wise counsel, careful analysis and steady hand will be greatly missed.

Susan and I send our condolences to you all-we miss him.

Gus and Susan Schumacher (Washington, DC)

To members of the Humphrey Institute,

We would like to thank the Humphrey Institute for the beautiful flowers that you sent to Ed's visitation and church service. We are grateful for your thoughts and prayers, which have helped us through this difficult time.

Maria Ignez and family

Dear Ignez, Audrey, Susan, Tanya,

Please accept my late condolences as I have been away from email communication for over a week. I have just learned of the passing of a great man, your husband and father. Prof. Schuh was a great man. Although I only had direct contact with him during my two years as a student at the Humphrey Institute, he made an impact on me that will last a lifetime. Prof. Shuh was my mentor at the time that he was the Dean of the Humphrey Institute. Even with his busy schedule he always had time to meet with me and learn about my progress. I felt very important having such access as my classmates would ask me what Dean Schuh was like. He had a genuine fondness that was father-like which put me at ease whenever I ventured to his office to interrupt his busy schedule. I think he gave me extra attention as I had not come from a privileged background and had struggled to get to that point in my life. He shared stories about overcoming his hardships as a young man, his public service career and other experiences traveling and teaching overseas. I also remember him being very proud of his daughters’ accomplishments. I have never forgotten how motivating it was for me. It is something I will never forget.

He taught many important lessons; the ones that have served me best were from outside the classroom lectures. He taught me that my insights were significant and that it was vital to pursue a career in public service as I had something to contribute and my voice should be heard. It was an appeal that I took to heart whenever I have had the privilege to mentor other young professionals like me. We kept in touch by email over the years as my travel and work took me to Brazil and South India. I always let him know whenever I got a new job, a new assignment or some other major development in my life. He was proud of his students’ accomplishments and encouraging.

Please know that your husband and father will be revered for his human touch and spirit. God Bless him!

George Sarmiento,
Chennai, India

Ed was my longest and closest professional associate. I was a new assistant professor at Pyrdue when he came to Purdue after completing graduate work at Chicago. His international work in Brazil bagan at about the same time as mine in the Phillipines.
I will continue to miss his late night calls to discus a paper he was working on. I did not get to respond to the last paper he sent me just before his death.

Vern ruttan

This is a shortened version of a letter I sent to the Schuh family.

Mayagüez, Puerto Rico

May 5, 2008

Dear Ignez, Audrey, Susan, Tanya, and all the other members of the Schuh
family:

I would like to express you my sincere condolences and share with you some
thoughts on Ed.

Yesterday Claudia told me that one of the messages in this week’s liturgy
(Claudia is Roman Catholic) was that a person is worth more, the more
people he or she was able to impact favorably. These words could not be
more appropriate for Ed. Whether it was through his involvement with
governments, educational institutions, research institutions, or
international development organizations, he had a positive impact on the
well-being of an uncountable number of people and families around the
world. Different levels of our society have recognized many of Ed’s
positive impact on others.

I would like to tell you (just to let you know that “I also know”) about
two of the other facets that characterized Ed and that usually go
unmentioned in medals and official recognitions. First, Ed not only
impacted other people favorably. He also gave other people enormously. You
see, for every successful story of a positive impact on someone’s life,
there were probably other ten that did not make it along the way. This
never kept Ed from sowing ideas or working in projects, whenever he saw a
possibility of impacting favorably on others. Yes, Ed gave more than was expected of him; much more. In the Jewish community, a person is worth what he gives. So in this account too Ed was a precious human being.

And of course, Ed not only impacted positively on other people’s wellbeing,
economically or socially speaking. He also touched many souls. The
clearness of his thinking, the conviction he had in his ideas, his moral
integrity, his vast experience, and his sense of what is important and what
is not, together with a candid spirit and an unlimited amount of plain
humanity made Ed an exquisite friend and a unique and natural mentor. Ed
touched my soul and for this reason he was very dear to me.

He will remain in my mind as my “Dear Professor Schuh.”

A part of Ed left us all, but much of him will still be with us and grow
within us and be passed to others.

Our deepest sympathies, thoughts and prayers are with you in this sad
moment.

Very sincerely,

Julio.

To the Schuh Family,

Please accept my sincerest condolences for the loss of your husband, father, and grandfather.

Ed was very generous with his time and talents, and I benefited from this greatly while studying at the Humphrey Institute. He was always willing to explain a concept I did not understand or help me reach my career goals. I will always appreciate the many kind words he wrote on my behalf as well as the invitations to dinner at your home.

Both before I entered, and after I left the Humphrey Institute I have come across people whose world views have in some small way been influenced by Ed. When I told my former boss in the Peace Corps I was going to attend the Humphrey Institute, the one piece of advice he gave me was to take a class from Ed Schuh. I now work at the Foreign Agricultural Service in Washington, DC and I run into many people who have either studied under Ed or have been impressed by him at a conference.

He will truly be missed by many people.

Ben Rau
Washington, DC
Humphrey Institute Class of 2006

Ignez, Audrey, Susan, Tanya, -- our hearts go out to you, for you have lost a wonderful husband and father. The Humphrey Institute, the University of Minnesota, and the community at large has lost a great leader and friend.

Regents Professor. There is no higher honor the University can bestow upon a faculty member. Ed Schuh was very proud of that singular tribute to his brilliant career.

But that was only one of the many titles and honors Ed Schuh received in his lifetime. He was dean of the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs for over 10 years. During that period, new centers were created, outstanding faculty were hired, and the Institute took on the shape and character of what it is today. And that is only a small part of the legacy that is Ed Schuh’s.

There are colleagues here today from the Department of Applied Economics who will recall the great contribution Ed made as chair of that department. Ed was the creator and chair of the University’s Rural Development Council, a group that applied the University’s research and educational resources to Minnesota’s rural economies. He served as the Orville and Jane Freeman Chair for International Economics and Trade, an endowed chair named after public servants he greatly admired.

There may be many here in Minnesota who do not fully appreciate the tremendous impact Ed Schuh has had in the developing world. I first met Ed during my tenure at the U.S. Agency for International Development. The White House had appointed him Chairman of the Board for International Food and Agricultural Development (BIFAD). Earlier, as an economist on the White House Council of Economic Advisors, a Deputy Under Secretary of Agriculture, director of agriculture and rural development at the World Bank, and then chair of the BIFAD Board, Ed Schuh pursued policies that resulted in less hunger in our world and more sustainable agricultural growth. He received Brazil’s highest presidential award, the Gra Cruz, the National Order of Scientific Merit, for his work in helping create Brazil’s agricultural research system.

No one has cared more about the world’s poor than Ed Schuh. He was thinking constantly about ways to address their plight. He believed strongly that free trade could be liberating for the poor. He recently gave a lecture calling for a more liberal immigration policy asking us to think more about supply, demand and productivity factors and less about shutting out a needed workforce. He was a passionate supporter of the World Bank’s agricultural research facilities, laboratories that have added so much to increasing yields and combating disease and weather-related crop failures. Ed Schuh’s work in the field of international agriculture development reduced poverty, provided food security to millions of people, and enabled them to fulfill their human potential.

Professor Schuh was an outstanding academic leader and scholar. He was a forceful and effective policy advocate and he practiced what he taught.

He was also a very kind man who had a tremendous capacity to love his family very deeply and to love humanity wherever he found it.

For many years, Ed was the faculty advisor to the Humphrey International Fellows. These visiting Fellows are mid-career professionals from the developing world. Ed and Ignez frequently hosted them in their home. They counseled them when they were feeling homesick and made them feel that Minnesota was their second home. All over the world today, Humphrey Fellows are mourning the loss of a dear friend.
I could not complete this tribute to Ed Schuh without mentioning the reciprocal love and respect Ed had for his students and they for him. They knew he cared about them as human beings and they sought him out as an advisor and mentor. At the end of a semester, Ed’s students invariably would give him a standing ovation. Nothing moved Ed more. That was just one visible manifestation of the bond he created with them.

Ignez told me yesterday that Ed worked until after midnight the night before he went to the hospital grading a master’s thesis. He just had to finish this paper, she said, before he went to the hospital at 4 a.m. This was a man who loved his work and loved his students.
Finally, I want to thank Ed Schuh for all he did for me personally. He was my advisor, mentor, and friend. Had it not been for his strong support when I was a candidate for dean, I would not be here today.
Thank you, Ed. I know you are listening today. We will miss you, but your life and your spirit will inspire us to do more to make a difference in this world.

The following is the slightly edited text of a letter I sent to agricultural economics department heads around the country to let thm know of Ed's death.
Rob King, Department of Applied Economics, University of Minnesota

I am very sad to convey the news that University of Minnesota Regents Professor Emeritus G. Edward Schuh died on Sunday afternoon, May 4, from complications following heart surgery on May 1. He was 77. When he died, Ed was surrounded by his wife, Ignez, and their three daughters, Audrey, Susan, and Tanya.

Ed was a Hoosier. He received his B.S. degree in agricultural education from Purdue University in 1952. He went on to study agricultural economics at Michigan State University, where he was awarded his M.S. degree in 1954. After two years in the U.S. Army, he entered the graduate program in economics at the University of Chicago, where he completed his Ph.D. in 1961.

Ed joined the Agricultural Economics faculty at Purdue University in 1961 and quickly rose to the rank of professor in 1965. He was a Visiting Professor at the Federal University of Vicosa in Brazil from 1963 to 1965, and it was there he met his lifelong love, Ignez. This also was the beginning of a lifelong connection with Brazil that continued until his death. In July 2004, Ed was honored by the Brazilian Society of Agricultural Economics with a new award – Legendary Member of the Society – in recognition of his lifetime contributions. In April 2005, he received the National Order of Scientific Merit, Grã Cruz, from the Brazilian Academy of Science and the Brazilian Ministry of Science and Technology. This is Brazil’s highest scientific award and is considered the equivalent of the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Ed remained at Purdue University until 1979, but during that time he served as Program Advisor to the Ford Foundation, Senior Staff Economist on the President’s Council of Economic Advisors under President Ford, and Deputy Undersecretary for International Affairs and Commodity Programs at USDA.

Ed joined what was then the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics at the University of Minnesota in 1979 as Head, and he served in that capacity until 1984. This was a time of growth and change in the Department, with many new faces and a constant stream of high-level visitors. There were new initiatives focusing on state, national, and international issues; and we had a large, diverse graduate program with outstanding students who are now leaders in our profession. Ed also was very successful in attracting gift funds. He played a key role in the establishment of our first endowed chair – the E. Fred Koller Chair in Agricultural Management Information Systems. Later, he was successful in raising endowment funds for the Center for International Food and Agricultural Policy – a center that has contributed significantly to our Department over more than twenty years.

Ed resigned as Department Head in the early fall of 1984 to take the position of Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development at the World Bank. He was there until 1987 when he returned to the University of Minnesota as Dean of the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs. Ed served in that capacity until 1996. He later became the Orville and Jane Freeman Professor in International Trade and Investment Policy, a position he held until his retirement in November 2007.

Ed made truly significant professional contributions through his work on trade, foreign exchange rates and international financial markets in an open world economy, poverty and food security, agricultural policy, and science and technology policy. He received the American Agricultural Economics Association award for Best Published Research in 1971 for his book Agricultural Development in Brazil, and three years later his article on “The Exchange Rate and U.S. Agriculture” received the Best Article prize from the American Journal of Agricultural Economics. Ed served as President of AAEA in 1981-82 and he was elected a Fellow of the Association in 1984. He was also a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He received honorary doctoral degrees from the Federal University of Vicosa and from Purdue University. In 1998 he was elected a Regents Professor, the highest honor possible here at the University of Minnesota. Just last week, we learned that Ed was a 2008 recipient of the University of Minnesota Presidents Award for Outstanding Service for providing exceptional service to the University community.

Ed’s published work will continue to inspire and challenge scholars for many years to come, but the impacts he had on the lives of people around him will be just as long lived. Ed was completely devoted to Ignez and their children. One rarely had a conversation with him without getting some news of Ed’s family and being asked about one’s own. Ed was a mentor for countless graduate students from all around the world, and he was a trusted friend to colleagues everywhere he has been.

Professor Schuh will be always remembered and missed. Wish him peace...

Ed Schuh Eulogy

T.Roe

It is a great honor to participate in the celebration of Ed’s life with Ms. Schuh, family and you here today. The right words cannot be found to capture the many dimensions and contributions of this great man, an absolute giant in our profession. There is no exaggeration in saying, this economist is known throughout the world. How did someone who grew up on a produce farm end up as such a contributor to the profession? His real contribution is that he touched so many lives. There is Ed the teacher, the advisor, the friend and father, the colleague. The wonderful thing is that his contributions will live after him, and live a little bit in all of us.

To provide just some insight, from which we might all benefit, is the view that he dedicated himself to make a difference, not only in his profession, but in all dimensions of his life. I have witnessed this dedication again and again, from the time as a graduate student in his course on econometric methods at Purdue University in the mid 1960s, to a most recent to effort to develop for senior policy makers an education program in economic development for poverty alleviation in Africa. This tireless commitment is shown in his service to the University of Minnesota (for which he is this year’s recipient of the University’s Presidents Award for Outstanding Service), the local community, state, nation and developing countries around the world.

This commitment to making a difference, I feel, helped provide the energy and motivation behind his many professional contributions. This commitment motivated his continuing to: learn, invent, be open to new ideas, and to support a strong work ethic. I recall years ago in Panama city, working with Ed on a policy paper for the Panamanian government and the World Bank. At about 2:00 am, I was exhausted; Ed, understanding, continued to work. When I returned about 9:00 am, the report was almost complete and ready for presentation to Bank officials. I could relate many other examples including Peru, Bolivia, and Uganda where several days of intensive virtually one-on-one dialogue with President Museveni clearly changed the economic policy of the country, making it one of Africa’s few success stories.
Professionally, Ed Schuh had the unique capacity to
• see to the core of issues,
• capture the essence of otherwise very complex and convoluted processes, and
• translate this essence in ways that revealed entirely new insights into the workings of economies, the implications to the welfare of country’s citizens, the various choices for policy makers, and even to the design of new institutions to better manage country and the world economy. So, you see the hugely encompassing and far reaching nature of his contributions. These have changed, once and for all how the profession views the rural economy in the national and world economy.

His professional contributions number 12 books, 75 book chapters, and over 100 journal articles. These contribution have been far reaching, to mention a few, they include topics such as:
• The role of markets and governance
• The functioning of labor markets and the transition of labor from agriculture
• Exchange rates and agriculture
• The economics of “Basic Needs”
• The economics of international relations
• Open economies and global warming
Ed was the motivation behind the creation and strengthening of many institutions, at home and abroad. He served as
1. Senior Staff Economist on the President’s Council of Economic Advisors
2. Director of Public Policy and Administration at Purdue University
3. Deputy Under Secretary of International Affairs and Commodity Programs, USDA
4. Head, Department of Applied Economics, Unv. Of Minn.
5. Director, Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of the World Bank
6. Dean, Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs
7. Director of the Freeman Center of International Economic Policy

While appreciative of his awards and recognition for his efforts in building and strengthening institutions, he was reserved, humble in expressing them to others. Perhaps the key exception, one which revealed his love of Brazil, is the award of National Order of Scientific Merit, from the Brazilian Academy of Science and the Brazilian Ministry of Science and Technology. This is Brazil’s highest scientific award and is considered the equivalent of the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom.
I would be terribly negligent to not mention Ed’s efforts and success in mentoring others. He mentored graduate students and people like me, dragging me along on many international trips to help me learn. But, he also mentored across a very broad spectrum of individuals from various fields of specialization, and in various “walks” of life. We all feel very grateful, and hope that we might live by his example.

Professor Schuh was a wonderful person that will be missed but that left lots of examples and lessons to be followed.

Although I never new Professor Schuh personally, my fellow classmates haven spoken of him with such high regard--before and after his passing--that I can only come to the conclusion that he was a man that touched many people's lives within the Institute and in the wider world. I only wish that I had gotten a chance to know him.

Ed was such a wonderful part of the Humphrey Institute, and his students will greatly miss his encouragement and experience.