It is with great sorrow that we share that Harry Markowitz – former adjunct professor at UC San Diego Rady School of Management and groundbreaking Nobel laureate – died on June 22 at the age of 95.
Known as the “Father of Modern Portfolio Theory,” Markowitz was born on Aug. 24, 1927, in Chicago. During high school, Markowitz picked up an interest in physics and philosophy. He went on to enter a two-year undergraduate program at the University of Chicago and earned a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts in 1947. He stayed to pursue a master’s degree in economics, which he received three years later. In 1954, he also earned a doctorate in economics from the University of Chicago.
While conducting research for his dissertation, he developed an interest in applying mathematical methods to the stock market. While researching the then-current understanding of stock prices, which consisted of simply choosing shares of a group of companies that were thought to have the best prospects, Markowitz realized that the thinking lacked an analysis of the impact of risk. In 1952, his dissertation, “Portfolio Selection,” was published in the Journal of Finance, which upended the standard thinking on investing. He saw that the best choice of a portfolio is one that minimizes risk for a given expected return. He drew from statistics to develop his theory. It was the first time advanced mathematics had been applied to the benefits of portfolio diversification. This breakthrough has now permeated all aspects of money management.
Related work on investments led Markowitz to be regarded as a pioneer of behavioral finance, the study of how people make choices in practical situations. In 1990, Markowitz was awarded the Nobel Prize in economic sciences for his revolutionary research on buying stocks that changed traditional thinking of portfolio investments.
His distinguished career includes working on the research staff for the RAND Corporation, International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) as well as founding and leading several firms. Markowitz taught at preeminent universities throughout this life, including Rutgers University, the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, the University of California, Los Angeles, and finally, UC San Diego. From 2007 until he retired in 2019, Markowitz served as an adjunct professor at the Rady School of Management, where he taught portfolio theory. In 2017, he said, “I taught full-time, part-time and lectured all over the world; but the Rady School and UC San Diego are my home.”
We are thankful for the generosity Markowitz and his late wife, Barbara, extended to the UC San Diego campus. They gave more than $6 million in donations, primarily through the Barbara and Harry Markowitz Fellowship, which benefits Rady School of Management students. Markowitz also donated his Nobel Prize medal to the Rady School of Management, and the medal was placed in the Special Collections and Archives at the Geisel Library in 2018.
In addition to the Nobel Prize in economic sciences, Markowitz was awarded the John von Neumann Theory Prize in 1989. He was also described as “the man of the century” in 1999 by international financial newspaper Pensions and Investments.
Markowitz is survived by his children, Laurie Raskin, Steven Markowitz, Susan Ulvestad and David Markowitz; his stepson, James Marks, and 13 grandchildren as well as more than a dozen great-grandchildren.
In Memoriam
Donations in memory of Harry Markowitz can be made to K2663 Barbara and Harry Markowitz Fellowship, the fund Harry and his late wife Barbara established to support outstanding students at UC San Diego Rady School of Management studying finance, investing, and/or mathematical research, who have demonstrated financial need or are from an underprivileged background.
A celebration of life ceremony for Dr. Markowitz will be held on July 23 at 1 p.m. at the El Camino Mortuary, 5600 Carroll Canyon Road, San Diego, CA 92121.
