Talk:Leonid Hurwicz

Pronunication of Name

Is it appropriate to give only the Polish pronunciation of the name, even though he spent more than two-thirds of his life in the United States? In the U.S. it was generally pronounced Lee-ah'-nihd Huhr'-wich. ( In IPA, I think that might be [ liː 'a nɪd 'hɝ wɪtʃ ] ???)

(entered by Michael Hurwicz, Leonid's son)

Photo

I sent out a request for this photo: [1] --Zureks 13:55, 15 October 2007 (UTC)

Permission for photo granted.--Zureks 14:51, 15 October 2007 (UTC)

nationality and religion

Can we talk he is only of American nationality? What about his Polish Jewish origin? Growing up and studying in Poland? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 158.75.37.49 (talk) 15:46, 15 October 2007 (UTC)

When you search Wikipedia on "Hurwicz", this comes up:

Leonid "Leo" Hurwicz (1917, Moscow - 2008), a Jewish Russian-American economist and mathematician of Polish-Jewish descent

I think it would be more appropriate to say "a Polish-American economist and mathematician of Jewish descent, born in Moscow."

Although it is true that, quite by accident, he was born in Moscow, I don't believe he or his parents ever claimed Russian citizenship, held a Russian passport, or considered themselves to be anything but 100% Polish.

As for the Jewish part: Leo's mother ("Zina") was Jewish, and I believe his father ("Adek") was Bar Mitzvah'd, though as an adult he was, as far as I know, a non-observant atheist. Because Adek (my grandfather, Leo's father) rejected religion as a teen-ager, I do not believe my father (Leo) was ever Bar Mitzvah'd. Nor were any of Leo's children. We did celebrate Passover and Channukah at home. I don't think I was ever in a synagogue with my family. As for religious beliefs, I believe my father was somewhere in the atheist/agnostic realm, but probably tending more towards atheism.

(entered by Michael Hurwicz, Leonid's son)

Economics help needed

Hello. Based on three general audience news articles today there is some information in place about the subject's work. I have no knowledge of economics and would appreciate any help, additions and corrections by someone who does. Congratulations to those recognized today. -Susanlesch 17:19, 15 October 2007 (UTC)

GA Review

GA review (see here for criteria)

1. It is reasonably well written.

   a (prose): b (MoS):

2. It is factually accurate and verifiable.

   a (references): b (citations to reliable sources): c (OR):

3. It is broad in its coverage.

   a (major aspects): b (focused):

4. It follows the neutral point of view policy.

   Fair representation without bias:

5. It is stable.

   No edit wars etc.:

6. It is illustrated by images, where possible and appropriate.

   a (images are tagged and non-free images have fair use rationales): b (appropriate use with suitable captions):

7. Overall:

   Pass/Fail:

Comments:

1. "A man of commanding intellect, Hurwicz is described as calm and humble." (Lead) Unnecessarily POV. Yes, I acknowledge that this is referenced by the citation, but I question its necessity in the article. Not everything that is verifiable is notable, and it seems unnecessary to include such a statement in an encyclopedic article.
2. Under "Personal life," "Hurwicz is frail and so will probably not attend the awards ceremony. As of 19 October 2007, he is probably not planning to attend the Nobel Prize ceremonies in Sweden." is entirely not substantiated by the provided citations. Is it probable? Maybe. Is it verifiable from the citation? No, and that's what's important. This should be remedied.
3. "About 1942 his advisors were Jacob Marschak and Tjalling Koopmans at the Cowles Commission for Research in Economics at the University of Chicago, now the Cowles Foundation at Yale University." I'm not sure that this is a complete sentence.
4. All one-two sentence paragraphs must either be expanded or combined with the surrounding paragraphs, as they cannot stand alone.
5. (now known as Renmin University of China) (Teaching and research) This statement will date poorly and should be rephrased to be more objective temporally. ie. "Since 200X, the University has been known as..."
6. In the sentence "Hurwicz has taught subjects ranging from theory to welfare economics, public economics, mechanisms and institutions and mathematical economics." (Teaching and research) there is a hidden comment asking "of what" after "theory," which I believe is a fair request to be addressed. Obviously economic theory, but can it be more specific? If not, then it should at least flat out state "economic theory"
7. The "citation needed" tag under "Teaching and research" needs to be addressed, as should be the one under "Named for Hurwicz."
8. "First presented in 1950, the Hurwicz criterion is thought about to this day in the area of decision making called "under uncertainty." (Named for Hurwicz) This needs to be rephrased, partially for neutrality, partially to make it objectively temporal.

To allow for these changes to be made, I am putting the article on hold for a period of up to seven days, after which it may be failed without further notice. Please note as well that this is only a preliminary review and that secondary review will be conducted, mainly but not soley focusing on the references. The hold will not be extended for this secondary review, so please be sure to address all the above concerns in a timely manner. Thank you for your work thus far. Cheers, CP 04:50, 8 November 2007 (UTC)

Sorry, but as no work has been done on the article over the past week, I'm going to have to fail it. Once these concerns have been addressed, it may be renominated. If you feel that this review is in error, you may take it to WP:GAR. Thank you. Cheers, CP 13:06, 15 November 2007 (UTC)

Some comments on the intitial numbered points:

1. That Hurwicz has a commanding intellect is a figure of speech, which given its meaning, is factual. In any event the sentence is supported by the cited sourced.
2. The source on whether he will attend the ceremony states: Leonid Hurwicz says his age prevents him from travelling to Stockholm in December for the official ceremony. [Given his absence from ceremony today it can be worded in past tense. Kablammo (talk) 18:25, 10 December 2007 (UTC) Done. Kablammo (talk) 20:42, 10 December 2007 (UTC)]
3. This is a complete sentence, but could be rephrased.
4. The article has no one-sentence paragraphs, although there was one on 8 November. With one exception all two-sentence paragraphs deal with discrete matters and stand very well alone; I will correct that exception. [Done, and some content reorganized. Kablammo (talk) 19:58, 9 December 2007 (UTC)]
5. It is hard to see how this will date poorly, unless another name change occurs-- a possibility with any named entity.

Kablammo (talk) 19:08, 9 December 2007 (UTC)

I think this article can become a Good Article. Masterpiece2000 (talk) 02:54, 14 July 2008 (UTC)

References

School of Statistics

I deleted an assertion that Hurwicz became chair of the School of Statistics at the University of Minnesota in 1961. The School of Statistics was founded in 1971 under Seymour Geisser. I suspect Hurwicz was indeed teaching statistics at the Univsersity of Minnesota then, and the assertion was put there by someone who didn't realize that the School of Statistics didn't yet exist. Also, the picture of Ford Hall is misleading, since the School of Statistics didn't move there until about 2000 or so. I've deleted that too. Michael Hardy (talk) 18:21, 10 December 2007 (UTC)

Hello, Michael Hardy. The School of Statistics existed but under another name. It is today in Ford Hall. Unless you have a better photo I think I will restore these deletions. Also I will try to find the former name of the department (whose Web site may have been redesigned since I last looked, we'll see). -Susanlesch (talk) 14:29, 11 December 2007 (UTC)

Lacking an updated CV (has anyone a link to one?) the best I think is necessary is the timeline that is used throughout the article. It says "Chairman, Statistics Department, University of Minnesota" 1961. -Susanlesch (talk) 14:33, 11 December 2007 (UTC)

If the School of Statistics existed under a different name before 1971, then why do they claim to have been founded in 1971 by Seymour Geisser? They had a 25th anniversary celebration in 1996. I was there. Michael Hardy (talk) 18:10, 11 December 2007 (UTC)

Perhaps you could ask them. -Susanlesch (talk) 19:01, 11 December 2007 (UTC)

Department vs. school? Kablammo (talk) 20:30, 11 December 2007 (UTC)

... I'll ask around. Michael Hardy (talk) 23:23, 11 December 2007 (UTC)

Explanation of his work

Sources:

• Collins, Bob (2007-12-10). "Leonid Hurwicz explained". Bob Collins news cut. Minnesota Public Radio. Retrieved 2007-12-11. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
• Tabarrok, Alex (2007-10-16). "What is Mechanism Design? Explaining the research that won the 2007 Nobel Prize in Economics". Reasononline news. Reason Magazine. Retrieved 2007-12-11. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)

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Date Hurwicz joined the Cowles Commission

The Wikipedia article says he started in January, 1942. The cited source (https://web.archive.org/web/20070615230712/http://cowles.econ.yale.edu/P/reports/1942-46b.htm) actually just says 1942. I suspect this is because this source only applies to the period starting in 1942. ("Biographies and brief surveys of the activities of research associates during 1942–1946")

Gérard Debreu (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%A9rard_Debreu), in "Mathematical Economics at Cowles" (http://cowles.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/conf/50th/50th-debreu.pdf), says the date was July, 1941:

"The entry of the United States into World War II had an instant, direct impact and a far greater delayed, indirect impact on the work of the Cowles Commission. A study of price controls was undertaken, and Leonid Hurwicz, who had joined the research staff in July 1941, was initially scheduled to devote full time to the project after mid-1942 with a team of interviewers, in an early encounter with the design of mechanisms for resource allocation."

http://cowles.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/conf/50th/50th-debreu.pdf

Given the greater precision of Debreu's date (he gives a month where the currently cited source does not), and because the currently cited source does not claim to cover the period before 1942, I tend to trust Debreu's date and would like to change "January, 1942" in the article to "July, 1941, adding the Debreu citation.

(entered by Michael Hurwicz, son of Leonid Hurwicz)

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