Omicron Delta Epsilon ( ΟΔΕ or ODE ) is an international honor society in the field of economics , formed from the merger of Omicron Delta Gamma and Omicron Chi Epsilon, in 1963. Its board of trustees included well-known economists such as Robert Lucas , Paul Romer , and Robert Solow . ODE is a member of the Association of College Honor Societies ; the ACHS indicates that ODE inducts approximately 4,000 collegiate members each year and has more than 100,000 living lifetime members. There are approximately 700 active ODE chapters worldwide. New members consist of undergraduate and graduate students , as well as college and university faculty ; the academic achievement required to obtain membership for students can be raised by individual chapters, as well as the ability to run for office or wear honors cords during graduation. It publishes an academic journal entitled The American Economist twice each year.
41-538: The first national honor society in economics, Omicron Delta Gamma (ODG), was formed on May 7, 1915, by the merger of Harvard University's Undergraduate Society of Economics with the University of Wisconsin's Order of Artus, an economics student society modeled on King Arthur's Knights of the Roundtable. Wisconsin's group was advised by Professor John R. Commons , and Professor Frank W. Taussig , president of
82-465: A bachelor's degree in 1876 and a master's degree in 1879. He received a Doctor of Philosophy degree in economics from the University of Heidelberg in that same year, where he had studied with Karl Knies , who belonged to the historical school of economics , and Johann Kaspar Bluntschli . He later received a Doctorate of Laws from Hobart College , receiving the degree in 1892. Ely
123-729: A leading spokesman for the Social Gospel. During World War I , Ely worked to build popular support for the American war effort, taking part in the activities of the League to Enforce Peace . He headed the committee of arrangements for a "Win the War Convention" held in Madison from November 8–10, 1918. Ely's political activities during World War I included his campaign against Senator Robert M. La Follette . Although La Follette
164-472: A radical. Eventually Commons re-entered academia at the University of Wisconsin in 1904. Commons' early work exemplified his desire to unite Christian ideals with the emerging social sciences of sociology and economics . He was a frequent contributor to Kingdom magazine, was a founder of the American Institute for Christian Sociology, and authored a book in 1894 called Social Reform and
205-556: A socialist radical and incrementalist. Contrary to some published accounts, Commons did consider African Americans capable of voting. When he advocated proportional representation, he suggested a "negro party". He even suggested applying the Thirteenth amendment to the Constitution to force Southern States to allow African Americans to vote. He continued the strong American tradition in institutional economics by such figures as
246-465: A student at City College of New York. Brown conceived the creation and the development of an international Honor Society in Economics. Friends and colleagues report that they were amazed watching this polite and deferring young person 'pestering' Nobel Prize winners and other giants of the economics profession to endorse, become involved in, and support this initiative. The first annual meeting of OCE
287-547: Is awarded biennially to an outstanding economist in recognition of academic achievements and for service both to the economics profession and to Omicron Delta Epsilon. The award is given at American Economic Association conference where the honoree presents a "Commons Lecture" which is later published in The American Economist . Over the years, the Commons Award has served as an indicator of recipients of
328-589: Is considered equal to his contributions to the theory of institutional economics. He also made valuable contributions to the history of economic thought , especially with regard to collective action. He is honored at the University of Wisconsin in Madison with rooms and clubs named for him. Commons was the mentor of many outstanding economists and has been credited with originating the " Wisconsin Idea ," in which university faculty serve as advisors to state government. His former home, The John R. and Nell Commons House ,
369-646: Is known as the "Father of Land Economics". In April 1891, Ely was a founder and the first Secretary of the Christian Social Union , a membership organization advocating the application of Christian principles to the social problems of the world. From 1892 until 1925, he was professor of Political Economy and director of the School of Economics, Political Science, and History at the University of Wisconsin in Madison . In 1894 an unsuccessful attempt
410-497: Is listed on the National Register of Historic Places . The John R. Commons Award is awarded biennially to an outstanding economist in recognition of academic achievements and for service both to the economics profession and to Omicron Delta Epsilon . The award is given at American Economic Association conference where the honoree presents a "Commons Lecture" which is later published in The American Economist . Over
451-567: The American Association for Labor Legislation (AALL) with other economists. In 1925, Ely moved to Northwestern University in Chicago , where he accepted a position as professor of economics. He remained at Northwestern until his retirement in 1933. Although regarded as a radical by his detractors on the political right, Ely was in fact opposed to socialism. "I condemn alike," he declared, "that individualism that would allow
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#1732772444300492-581: The American Economic Association in 1904–1905, was faculty advisor for Harvard's society. The John R. Commons Award is given semi-annually to an outstanding economist for contributions to the profession and to ODE, while the Frank W. Taussig Research Paper Award is given annually to the winner of a national undergraduate student competition. Alan A. Brown was the founder and first President of Omicron Chi Epsilon (OCE) in 1955 while
533-856: The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences . Nine Commons Award winners have won the Nobel Prize; most recently, Claudia Goldin (2009) won the Nobel in 2023. The Omicron Delta Epsilon Society has approximately 700 chapters located in the United States, including Puerto Rico and Guam, as well as chapters in Australia, Canada, Egypt, France, Kazakhstan, Mexico, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates, and
574-528: The Christian Social Union, and as the author of a series of widely read books on the organized labor movement , socialism , and other social issues. Ely was born in 1854 in Ripley , New York , the oldest child of Ezra Sterling and Harriet Gardner (Mason) Ely. He grew up on his family's 90-acre farm near Fredonia, New York , carrying wood, milking cows, churning butter, and picking rock in
615-617: The Church. He was an advocate of temperance legislation and was active in the national Prohibition Party . By his Wisconsin years, Commons' scholarship had become less moralistic and more empirical, and he moved away from a religious viewpoint in his ethics and sociology. Commons is best known for developing an analysis of collective action by the state and other institutions , which he saw as essential to understanding economics. Commons believed that carefully crafted legislation could create social change; that view led him to be known as
656-474: The Richard T. Ely Lecture; it was renamed in 2020. Ely also founded Lambda Alpha International in 1930. Its purposes included the encouragement of the study of land economics in universities; the promotion of a closer affiliation between its members and the professional world of land economics; and the furtherance of the highest ideals of scholarship and honesty in business and the universities. Richard T. Ely
697-540: The United Kingdom. John R. Commons John Rogers Commons (October 13, 1862 – May 11, 1945) was an American institutional economist , Georgist , progressive and labor historian at the University of Wisconsin–Madison . John R. Commons was born in Hollansburg, Ohio on October 13, 1862. Commons had a religious upbringing which led him to be an advocate for social justice early in life. Commons
738-462: The economist and social theorist Thorstein Veblen . His notion of transaction is one of the most important contributions to Institutional Economics. The institutional theory was closely related to his remarkable successes in fact-finding and drafting legislation on a wide range of social issues for the state of Wisconsin . He drafted legislation establishing Wisconsin's worker's compensation program,
779-541: The economy. He believed that institutional economics added collective control of individual transactions to existing economic theory. Commons considered the Scottish economist Henry Dunning Macleod to be the "originator" of Institutional economics. Commons was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1936. He died on May 11, 1945. Today, Commons's contribution to labor history
820-461: The fields. He later recalled that life on the farm taught him much. Richard's father was a self-taught engineer and young Richard helped him lay out a railroad in Pennsylvania . However, Richard's father was not a successful farmer, relying too much on questionable ideas from popular farm magazines rather than local experience. Fluctuating prices further complicated farming. Richard's father
861-409: The first of its kind in the United States. In 1906, Commons co-founded the American Association for Labor Legislation (AALL) with other economists. Commons was a contributor to The Pittsburgh Survey , a 1907 sociological investigation of a single American city. His graduate student, John A. Fitch , wrote The Steel Workers , a classic depiction of a key industry in early 20th-century America. It
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#1732772444300902-484: The history of labor unions in the United States . Beginning in 1910, he edited A Documentary History of American Industrial Society, a large work that preserved many original-source documents of the American labor movement. Almost as soon as that work was complete, Commons began editing History of Labor in the United States , a narrative work which built on the previous 10-volume documentary history. The first national honor society in economics, Omicron Delta Gamma (ODG),
943-685: The institutionalization of redlining practices in the United States. Ely did support labor unions and opposed child labor, as did many leaders of the Progressive Movement , and also some conservatives such as Mark Hanna . Ely was close to the Social Gospel movement, emphasizing that the Gospel of Christ applied to society as a whole, not merely to individuals; he worked hard to convince churches to advocate on behalf of workers. Ely strongly influenced his friend Walter Rauschenbusch ,
984-534: The nature of our position." Ely was a product of the German historical school with an emphasis on evolution to new forms, and never accepted the marginalist revolution that was transforming economic theory in Britain and the U.S. He was strongly influenced by Herbert Spencer and strongly favored competition over monopoly or state ownership , with regulation to "secure its benefits" and "mitigate its evils". What
1025-491: The organization globally. Brown served as chairman of the Board of Trustees of ODE from its inception until 1982. A detailed history of ODE, written by long-serving Executive Secretary Treasurer of the organization William D. Gunther, was published in 2013 by The American Economist in recognition of its fiftieth birthday. The John R. Commons Award, established in memory of Professor Commons, co-founder of Omicron Delta Gamma,
1066-463: The other." Ely's critique of socialism made him a political target of the socialists themselves. In his 1910 book, Ten Blind Leaders of the Blind , Arthur Morrow Lewis acknowledged that Ely was a "fair opponent" who had "done much to obtain a hearing for [socialism] among the unreasonable", but charged he was merely one of those "bourgeois intellectuals" who were "not sufficiently intellectual to grasp
1107-495: The rest of his life, including a proposal for income taxes with higher rates on land rents. After graduating from Oberlin College , Commons did two years of graduate studies at Johns Hopkins University , where he studied under Richard T. Ely , but left without a degree. After appointments at Oberlin and Indiana University, Commons began teaching at Syracuse University in 1895. In spring 1899, Syracuse dismissed him as
1148-434: The state no room for industrial activity, and that socialism which would absorb in the state the functions of the individual." He argued that socialism was not needed, and "the alternative of socialism is our complex socio-economic order, which is based, in the main, upon private property." He warned that the proper "balance between private and public enterprise" is "menaced by socialism, on the one hand, and by plutocracy , on
1189-530: The state should support white " Nordic " people against people of other races (in line with the opinions of his colleagues at the University of Wisconsin, Edward Alsworth Ross and Charles R. Van Hise ). Ely favored eugenics , arguing the "unfit" should be kept from reproducing. Ely argued that blacks were "for the most part grownup children, and should be treated as such." Ely was an advocate for redlining (which entails racial segregation and discrimination in real estate), and has been considered influential in
1230-595: The years, the Commons Award has served as an indicator of recipients of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences . Nine Commons Award winners have won the Nobel Prize; most recently, Claudia Goldin (2009) won the Nobel in 2023. Solely authored works Co-authored works Edited works Commons, John, R. 1900. Representative Democracy. New York: American Bureau of Economic Research, 1900. Available at https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo.31924032462842&view=1up&seq=18 Richard T. Ely Richard Theodore Ely (April 13, 1854 – October 4, 1943)
1271-725: Was a Progressive in politics, he did not support the war, and so Ely regarded him as unfit for office. Ely tried to have him removed from the United States Senate and end his influence in Wisconsin politics. Ely edited Macmillan's Citizen's Library of Economics, Politics, and Sociology and its Social Science Textbook Series and Crowell's Library of Economics and Politics , and was a frequent contributor to periodical literature, both scientific and popular. Richard Ely died in Old Lyme, Connecticut on October 4, 1943, and
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1312-606: Was a devout Presbyterian who avoided tobacco, allowed no work or play on Sunday, and refused to grow hops because they would have been used to make beer. Yet his stern father read poetry and studied Latin. Ely's mother painted and taught art in the local teachers' college. Ely transferred his affiliation to the Episcopal Church in college, and through his life remained devout and active. Ely attended Columbia University in New York City , from which he received
1353-528: Was a professor and head of the Department of Political Economy at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland from 1881 to 1892. In 1885, Ely was a founder of the American Economic Association , serving until 1892 as the group's Secretary. He later served a term as President of the organization, holding that position from 1899 to 1901. The AEA Distinguished Lecture series was formerly known as
1394-478: Was an American economist , author, and leader of the Progressive movement who called for more government intervention to reform what they perceived as the injustices of capitalism , especially regarding factory conditions, compulsory education, child labor , and labor unions . Ely is best remembered as a founder and the first Secretary of the American Economic Association , as a founder and secretary of
1435-583: Was buried at Forest Hill Cemetery in Madison. A large portion of his library was purchased by Louisiana State University and is now a part of LSU's Special Collections division. Ely's papers are housed at the Wisconsin Historical Society . The American Economic Association instituted the annual "Richard T. Ely Lecture" in 1960 in his memory, which, unlike the Association's other honors is also open to non-American economists. It
1476-405: Was considered a poor student and suffered from a mental illness while studying. He was allowed to graduate without finishing because of the potential seen in his intense determination and curiosity. At this time, Commons became a follower of Henry George 's 'single tax' economics. He carried this 'Georgist' or 'Ricardian' approach to economics, with a focus on land and monopoly rents, throughout
1517-454: Was formed on May 7, 1915, by the merger of Harvard University's Undergraduate Society of Economics with the University of Wisconsin's Order of Artus, an economics student society modeled on King Arthur's Knights of the Roundtable; Wisconsin's group was advised by Commons. In 1934, Commons published Institutional Economics , which laid out his view that institutions were made up of collective actions that, along with conflict of interests, defined
1558-538: Was held at Fordham University in New York City in the spring of 1958. Brown subsequently learned of the existence of ODG, which, while older and formally larger with more campus chapters, was less active than the younger OCE. Brown was the prime mover to facilitate a merger in 1963 between the two societies, renamed Omicron Delta Epsilon – The National Honor Society in Economics. Later Brown replaced “National” with "International" in its non-Greek title and expanded
1599-601: Was made by Oliver Elwin Wells , Superintendent of Public Instruction of Wisconsin and ex officio member of the University's Board of Regents to expel Ely from his chair at Wisconsin for purportedly teaching socialistic doctrines. This effort failed, with the Wisconsin state Board of Regents issuing a ringing proclamation in favor of academic freedom , acknowledging the necessity for freely " sifting and winnowing " among competing claims of truth. In 1906, Ely co-founded
1640-413: Was needed was "to raise its moral and ethical level." However, whereas Spencer believed that free competition was best served by deregulation and a smaller state, Ely believed that more regulation and a more interventionist state was the policy to follow. Also on social Darwinism , Spencer believed that the state should not get involved in supporting one ethnic group over another — whereas Ely believed that
1681-517: Was one of six key texts to come out of the survey. Edwin E. Witte , later known as the "father of social security" also did his PhD at the University of Wisconsin–Madison under Commons. He was a leading advocate of proportional representation in the United States, writing a book on the subject in 1907 and serving as vice-president of the Proportional Representation League. Commons undertook two major studies of