March 21, 1998 Contact Pauline Austin (541) 346-3129 EUGENE--Economics Professor Emeritus Raymond Mikesell, a University of Oregon faculty member for 40 years, has given the university $1 million to expand teaching and research on economic aspects of environmental problems such as global warming and acid rain. Mikesell's gift will fund an endowed visiting professorship in environmental and resource economics. Mikesell, 85, says he made the gift because he wants the UO to be able to do more in the field. "I am most grateful to the university," he says. "It has been the most important thing in my life." Mikesell's gift will enable the UO Department of Economics to "begin looking at environmental policy with rigorous and objective economic analysis," says department head Mark Thoma. The gift will fund department seminars, visiting professors and summer research by students and faculty members. Mikesell's gift also will qualify the College of Arts and Sciences for a fully endowed Knight Chair. "While I'm not surprised by Ray's gift, I am immensely impressed by it, and just as grateful," says Joe Stone, UO College of Arts and Sciences dean. "Ray has contributed to the scholarly and intellectual growth of economics for 60 years--40 of those here at Oregon. Not only has he left an indelible mark on the discipline, he's also established a perpetual means for the academy to conduct high quality teaching and research. This is every bit in keeping with Ray's service to Oregon." Mikesell is an internationally known expert in environmental economics, which he describes as "the application of economics to environmental problems," and in international economics. He has published 26 books and is working on another, covering topics from economic development problems of mineral-rich countries to operations of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). He has served as a consultant to the World Bank and was present at the 1944 Bretton Woods Conference where the World Bank and the IMF were founded. His most recent article, to be published by the Milken Institute, is about the IMF's role in the current Asian economic crisis. Mikesell hopes his gift will result in more extensive cost-benefit studies of solutions to environmental problems. "If we're going to reduce global warming, it takes money, hundreds of billions of dollars a year," he says. "To say whatever is good for the environment is worth it--that's pretty silly. You could spend so much on one problem that you would not only seriously affect your standard of living but also would have less to spend on some other problem. Resources are scarce. You have to allocate what you have among various environmental problems. There are constant tradeoffs." -30- #G-6073/Local,Lcl Bus,OrD/Bus,PDX