Theodore William Schultz

About

Winner of the 1979 Nobel Prize in Economics who theorized that rural farmers were kept poor because of government policy. He authored nearly a dozen books in his long career including 1993's Origins of Increasing Returns.

Before Fame

Seeing the poor economy in his native Dakotas in the years following WW I inspired in him an interest in farming economcs.

Trivia

He resigned his professorship at the University of Chicago after his report, suggesting that a vegetable alternative to margarine be used for the war effort, was suppressed after pressure from the dairy industry.

Family Life

He grew up near Arlington, South Dakota.

Associated With

Mohammad Yunus was another Nobel Prize-winning economist - he developed the concept of microfinancing.