Dr. Everett E. Hagen, professor emeritus of political science and economics and former director of the Center for International Studies, died November 29 in Grand Rapids, MI, at the age of 86.
Professor Hagen, whose specialty was the economic and social development of emerging nations, came to MIT in 1953 as a senior staff member at CIS and as a visiting professor of economics. He was appointed professor of economics in 1959 and of political science in 1965. From 1963 to 1965 he was on leave from the Institute as a guest of the Tavistock Institute of Human Relations in London, England.
He was appointed CIS director in 1970 and continued in that post until his retirement in 1972.
Born in Holloway, MI, in 1906, Professor Hagen received the BA degree in 1927 from St. Olaf College in Northfield, MI. At the University of Wisconsin, he received the MA in history in 1932 and PhD in economics in 1941.
During World War II, Professor Hagen served as an economist for the National Resources Planning Board, in a planning unit of the Federal Reserve Board, and as chief of the Division of Program Planning of the Office of War Mobilization and Reconversion. From 1946 to 1948 he was a fiscal analyst for the Bureau of the Budget, and a consultant to the US Economic Cooperation Administration.
Professor Hagen resumed his academic career as professor of economics at the University of Illinois in 1948 and served as chairman of the economics department in 1950-51.
In 1951, as director of the field staff in Burma for Robert R. Nathan Associates, he became economic advisor to the government of Burma.
At various times, Professor Hagen was a consultant to the US Treasury Department, the President's Task Force on Foreign Economic Assistance and the US Agency for International Development. He also advised the US Council of the International Chamber of Commerce, and the governments of Japan, El Salvador, Singapore and Saudi Arabia.
He was the author, co-author or editor of several books and many articles and papers in his fields of specialization. His memberships included the American Economic Association and the Royal Economic Society, and he was president of the Association for Comparative Economics in 1966-67.
He leaves his wife, Ruth (Alexander) Hagen.
A version of this article appeared in the January 6, 1993 issue of MIT Tech Talk (Volume 37, Number 17).
