Steve Cheung as Teacher

Abstract

Abstract It was 1968 and I was studying economics with Armen Alchian at UCLA. It was my first year as a graduate student and Armen was teaching the Microeconomics course to all the first year grad students. While I had an undergraduate degree in economics, Armen was the first professor I had that made it fun and fascinating. To him, economics was the science of human behavior and not a bunch of mathematical mechanisms called a market. In the middle of this year, my military draft number was up and I was called to join the U.S. Army. However, my draft board gave me the choice of Army or college teaching. I asked Armen for some help and he wrote letters for me to various colleges, including California State College in San Luis Obispo. With only my masters degree, I was offered the job at Cal Poly and taught there for 3 years, until I was too old to be drafted into the military. I called Armen and told him I wanted to return to graduate school but I did not want to live again in Los Angeles. Where should I go? Without any hesitation, Armen said, “Go to the University of Washington and follow Steve Cheung wherever he goes. Take every course he teaches and listen carefully to everything he says.”