View source for Arnold Weber

{{Short description|American academic administrator (1929–2020)}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| image               = 
| office              = 14th [[President of Northwestern University]]
| status              = 
| term_start          = 1985
| term_end            = December 31, 1994
| predecessor         = [[Robert H. Strotz]]
| successor           = [[Henry Bienen]]
| birth_name                = Arnold Robert Weber
| birth_date          = {{Birth date|1929|09|20}}
| birth_place         = New York City, U.S.
| death_date          = {{Death date and age|2020|08|20|1929|09|20}}
| death_place         = [[Evanston, Illinois]], U.S.
| party               = 
| spouse              = 
| education           = [[University of Illinois]] (B.S., 1950; M.A., 1952)<br />[[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] (Ph.D., 1958)
}}
'''Arnold Robert Weber''' (September 20, 1929 – August 20, 2020) was an American economist and academic administrator who was president of [[Northwestern University]] from 1985 to 1994.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://exhibits.library.northwestern.edu/archives/exhibits/presidents/weber.html|title=Arnold R. Weber, University Archives, Northwestern University Library|website=exhibits.library.northwestern.edu|access-date=2017-08-29|archive-date=2017-06-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170614162630/http://exhibits.library.northwestern.edu/archives/exhibits/presidents/weber.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> His tenure at Northwestern was marked by stabilizing the university's finances and enhancing the [[Evanston, Illinois|Evanston]] campus environment.

==Biography==
Weber was born to a [[Jewish Americans|Jewish]] family in 1929 in [[The Bronx]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.donnellanfuneral.com/obituaries/Arnold-R-Weber?obId=18013022|title=Arnold R. Weber Obituary - Visitation & Funeral Information}}</ref> His father worked as an electrician.<ref name=Tribune>{{cite web|last=Czyzon|first=Sydney|url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/obituaries/ct-arnold-weber-northwestern-obituary-20200828-af6fecsg6baolkigfk25n5yioe-story.html|title=Former Northwestern University President Arnold Weber remembered for ‘brilliant leadership’|work=Chicago Tribune|date=August 28, 2020|access-date=June 12, 2025|archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20200901232653/http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/obituaries/ct-arnold-weber-northwestern-obituary-20200828-af6fecsg6baolkigfk25n5yioe-story.html|archive-date=September 1, 2020|url-status=dead|url-access=limited}}</ref> 

Weber graduated from the [[University of Illinois]] in 1950 with a bachelor's degree in economics.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://exhibits.library.northwestern.edu/archives/exhibits/presidents/weber.html|title=Arnold R. Weber, University Archives, Northwestern University Library|access-date=2017-08-29|archive-date=2017-06-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170614162630/http://exhibits.library.northwestern.edu/archives/exhibits/presidents/weber.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> After undergraduate, he completed two advanced degrees in economics, an M.A. in 1952 at Illinois and Ph.D. in 1958 at the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] (MIT).<ref name="Northwestern 2020">{{cite web|url=https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2020/08/arnold-weber/|title=President Emeritus Arnold Weber passes|last=Rowley|first=Storer|publisher=Northwestern University|date=August 21, 2020|access-date=June 12, 2025}}</ref> His doctoral thesis was ''The International Chemical Workers Union: a case study in structural adjustment''.<ref>{{cite thesis|last=Weber|first=Arnold R.|url=https://mit.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01MIT_INST/1np2a75/alma990022963720106761|title=The International Chemical Workers Union: a case study in structural adjustment|type=Ph.D.|publisher=Massachusetts Institute of Technology|year=1958}}</ref> From 1952 to 1954, Weber served in the [[United States Coast Guard]] prior to enrolling at MIT.<ref name=WSJ>{{cite web|last=Hagerty|first=James R.|title=When Nixon Froze Prices, Arnold Weber Enforced the Rules|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/when-nixon-froze-prices-arnold-weber-enforced-the-rules-11598536800|work=The Wall Street Journal|date=August 27, 2020|access-date=June 12, 2025|archive-url=https://archive.today/20231230164352/https://www.wsj.com/articles/when-nixon-froze-prices-arnold-weber-enforced-the-rules-11598536800|archive-date=December 30, 2023|url-status=dead|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

At the beginning of his career, Weber was a professor, first at MIT (1957–58), followed by [[University of Chicago]] (1958-1973). He then went to [[Carnegie Mellon University]], where he served first as Dean of the [[Graduate School of Industrial Administration]] (1973–77), and then as provost and professor until 1980.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://exhibits.library.northwestern.edu/archives/exhibits/presidents/weber.html|title=Arnold R. Weber, University Archives, Northwestern University Library|website=exhibits.library.northwestern.edu|access-date=2017-08-29|archive-date=2017-06-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170614162630/http://exhibits.library.northwestern.edu/archives/exhibits/presidents/weber.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 1980, he became President of the [[University of Colorado system|University of Colorado]], where he served until 1984.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://exhibits.library.northwestern.edu/archives/exhibits/presidents/weber.html|title=Arnold R. Weber, University Archives, Northwestern University Library|website=exhibits.library.northwestern.edu|access-date=2017-08-29|archive-date=2017-06-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170614162630/http://exhibits.library.northwestern.edu/archives/exhibits/presidents/weber.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

His non-university experience includes serving as president of the Civic Committee of The [[Commercial Club of Chicago]], the leading business and civic organization in the metropolitan area, from 1995&ndash;1999.

Prior to and during his tenure at Northwestern, Weber served on the boards of many corporations including Burlington Northern Santa Fe Inc., PepsiCo Inc., Tribune Co., John Deere & Company, Aon Corp. and Inland Steel.

During his career, he served as a member of the faculty at the Graduate School of Business at the [[University of Chicago]] and as a presidential appointee and economic adviser in the federal government.

He has been inducted into the National Academy of Arbitrators and the National Academy of Public Administration, is a Laureate of [[The Lincoln Academy of Illinois]] and a member of the Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Weber is the author of eight books, as well as numerous monographs and articles on economic policy, industrial and labor relations, and higher education.

==References==
{{Reflist}}
* http://www.diamondconsultants.com/PublicSite/people/team/?topic=Board+of+Directors&name=Arnold+Weber
* http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/910.html

{{Northwestern University presidents |state=autocollapse}}
{{University of Colorado System presidents |state=autocollapse}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weber, Arnold R.}}
[[Category:1929 births]]
[[Category:2020 deaths]]
[[Category:21st-century American Jews]]
[[Category:21st-century American male writers]]
[[Category:21st-century American non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:American male non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:Carnegie Mellon University faculty]]
[[Category:Jewish American non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:Presidents of Northwestern University]]
[[Category:Presidents of the University of Colorado System]]
[[Category:University of Chicago faculty]]
[[Category:University of Illinois alumni]]
[[Category:Writers from the Bronx]]
[[Category:20th-century American economists]]
[[Category:Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni]]
[[Category:Jewish American economists]]
[[Category:Massachusetts Institute of Technology faculty]]
[[Category:Economists from New York (state)]]
[[Category:20th-century American Jews]]