Robert Hessen (September 1936 – April 15, 2024) was an American

economic An economy is an area of the Production (economics), production, Distribution (economics), distribution and trade, as well as Consumption (economics), consumption of Goods (economics), goods and Service (economics), services. In general, it is ...

and business historian. He was a professor at the Graduate School of Business at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

and a senior research fellow at Stanford's

Hoover Institution The Hoover Institution (officially The Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace and formerly The Hoover Institute and Library on War, Revolution, and Peace) is an American public policy think tank which promotes personal and economic ...

. He was an Objectivist and authored several books, analyzing business and economic issues from an Objectivist perspective.

Early life and education

Robert Hessen was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. He received his

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

from Queens College, his

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

, and then his

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...

from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

Career

Prior to joining the Hoover Institution and taking his position at Stanford, he taught at the Graduate School of Business at Columbia University. He was associated with philosopher

Ayn Rand Alice O'Connor (born Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum; , 1905March 6, 1982), better known by her pen name Ayn Rand (), was a Russian-born American writer and philosopher. She is known for her fiction and for developing a philosophical system which s ...

for 25 years, contributed articles to two of her periodicals, as well as her book, '' Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal''. He was a featured commentator on

Milton Friedman Milton Friedman (; July 31, 1912 – November 16, 2006) was an American economist and statistician who received the 1976 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his research on consumption analysis, monetary history and theory and ...

's award-winning PBS television documentary series, '' Free to Choose''. In 1985, Hessen joined the Board of Advisors of the newly formed Ayn Rand Institute. In 2000, he joined the Board of Advisors of The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies. Among the books he wrote are '' Steel Titan: The Life of Charles M. Schwab'' and '' In Defense of the Corporation''. He was also the editor of the multi-volume series ''Hoover Archival Documentaries''. He was featured in shorter works in such diverse publications as ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', ''

Barron's ''Barron's'' (stylized in all caps) is an American weekly magazine and newspaper published by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corp, since 1921. Founded as ''Barron's National Financial Weekly'' in 1921 by Clarence W. Barron (1855–19 ...

'', ''

Business History Review The ''Business History Review'' is a scholarly quarterly published by Cambridge University Press for Harvard Business School. ''Business History Review'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal covering the field of business history. It was establishe ...

'', '' Labor History'', '' The Hastings Law Journal'' and the '' Journal of Law and Economics''. His essays, discussing capitalism and presenting a private-property-and-contractual model of corporations, were published in the ''Fortune Encyclopedia of Economics'' and the '' Concise Encyclopedia of Economics''. Hessen died at Stanford Hospital on April 15, 2024, at the age of 87.

Books

Hessen's books include: *'' Steel Titan: The Life of Charles M. Schwab'' (University of Pittsburgh Press, 1975) *'' In Defense of the Corporation'' (Hoover Institution Press, 1979) *''Does Big Business Rule America?'' (edited, Ethics and Public Policy Center, 1982) *''Berlin Alert: The Memoirs and Reports of Truman Smith'' (edited, Hoover Institution Press, 1984) *''Breaking with Communism: The Intellectual Odyssey of Bertram D. Wolfe'' (edited, Hoover Institution Press, 1990)Review of ''Breaking with Communism'': *Donald W. Treadgold, ''Russian History'',

References

External links

Biographical profile
at the

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hessen, Robert 1936 births 2024 deaths 21st-century American historians 21st-century American male writers American economic historians American male non-fiction writers Ayn Rand Institute Columbia University alumni Harvard University alumni Objectivism scholars Objectivists Stanford University Graduate School of Business faculty Writers from New York City