Professor Thayne Robson, director of the Bureau of Economic and Business Research at the School of Business, died May 13 of pancreatic cancer at the age of 72.
“Thayne’s passing is a great loss to the U and to the state of Utah. He has been a valued adviser to governors, legislators and the business community on economic matters for decades. The U community shares with his family the grief of his passing,” said U President Bernie Machen.
Business Dean Jack Brittain agrees that both the U and the state have lost a valuable resource.
“Thayne made a tremendous effort to go to all parts of Utah, that’s why he was such an effective ambassador. He would give 50 or 60 speeches a year, and he would always use humor to get people to hear and understand his economic analysis. He’s pretty irreplaceable,” he said.
On the Friday before his death, Robson had been slightly ill from his chemotherapy treatments, but he told his staff he would be in on Monday. His sudden death came as a great blow to many of his co workers, Brittain said.
“He has some assistants that have worked with him for 34 years,” he said. “One woman started working for him when she was 18 and has been ever since. It’s kind of like the loss of a family member.”
Robson began working at the U in 1961 as a lecturer in the management department, and became a full professor in 1975. He worked as an acting director of the business research bureau for several years, and became the director in 1972, and served in that capacity until his death.
Robson earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in economics at Utah State University, and he did coursework for his doctorate at Cornell University, as well as completing selected seminars at Harvard University. He also taught at Harvard and University of California at Los Angeles.
He worked with cabinet-level committees in Washington, D.C., served as a member and chair of national policy committees, was an adviser to federal statistical agencies, and served on international missions for the Alliance of Universities for Democracy?an organization promoting democracy and market economies in Central and Eastern Europe.
He was also a past president of the Association for University Business and Economic Research, and an economic adviser to the past four Utah Governors.