Jules Backman Papers
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Abstract
This collection includes the personal files of Jules Backman, nationally known economist and expert on prices, accumulated during his tenure on the faculties of the School of Commerce, College of Business and Public Administration, and Graduate School of Business Administration (now the Stern School of Business). The records include lecture notes, working files, syllabi, and correspondence.
Biographical Note
Jules Backman, economist, author, and educator, was born in New York, NY on May 3, 1910. After attending high school in Brooklyn, he enrolled in NYU, where he would earn four degrees -- Bachelor of Commercial Science (1931), Master of Arts from the School of Education (1932), Master of Business Administration (1933), and Doctor of Commercial Science (1935). Three years after earning his PhD, Backman became an instructor in economics at NYU. He continued to serve on the faculties of the School of Commerce/College of Business Administration (now the Leonard N. Stern School of Business) from 1938 to 1975. As Professor Emeritus he continued to teach in an adjunct capacity.
Backman served as a consultant to major trade associations and corporations, particularly in steel, railroads, and retailing. He published widely on the subject of pricing. His books include Adventures in Price Fixing (1936), Administered Prices (1957), and Entrepreneurship and the Outlook for America (published posthumously in 1983).
Backman was also an active participant in the public sector. In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt named him to the Securities and Exchange Commission. He worked in the Office of Price Administration in the early 1940s and was an adviser to the President's Cost of Living Committee. Subsequently, he served on state and local advisory groups, including the Governor's Commission on Milk Marketing, the New York Joint Legislative Committee on Rents, and as consultant to the U.S. General Accounting Office and the New Jersey Rate Counsel.
The founding president of the New York University Club, Backman made major contributions to NYU for both scholarships and capital improvements. He was active in Jewish community service as chairman of the Reform Jewish Appeal from 1966 to 1969 and chairman of the Board of Governors of Hebrew Union College/Jewish Institute of Religion from 1976 until his death in 1982.
Sources:
Backman, Jules, Biographical File, NYU Archives
Scope and Content Note
This collection includes the personal files of Jules Backman. Records include lecture notes, working files, syllabi, and correspondence.
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Access Restrictions
Materials are open without restrictions.
Use Restrictions
Any rights (including copyright and related rights to publicity and privacy) held by the donor are maintained by New York University. Permission to publish or reproduce materials in this collection must be secured from repository. Please contact University Archives, (212) 998-2641, university-archives@nyu.edu.
Preferred Citation
Published citations should take the following form: Identification of item, date (if known); Jules Backman Papers; MC 123; box number; folder number; New York University Archives, New York University Libraries.
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Provenance
The collection was transferred to the University Archives in 1992 by Barbara Ring, Office of the Dean, Stern School of Business.