Anthony Koo, age 92, died at his home in Okemos on June 6, 2011. Originally from Shanghai China, where he graduated from St. John’s University, Anthony came to the United States in the 1940s for graduate study. After receiving his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1946 and serving as a diplomat at the Chinese Embassy in Washington, Anthony joined the Economics Department at MSU in 1950.
Anthony was particularly gregarious, interacted easily with everyone, and it was impossible not to like him. He was usually smiling, and loved to tell good stories and to make wry observations. He also loved MSU football and basketball, rarely missing a game, and would enthusiastically debate team strategy, although his enthusiasm for MSU’s teams exceeded his knowledge of the sports that they were playing.
Anthony served the University as a distinguished teacher and internationally-recognized scholar until his retirement in 1989. He was also a member of Academia Sinica in Taiwan and contributed to the master plan to modernize the Taiwanese economy. It is testimony to the high esteem in which his research was held that he left Michigan State in the early 1960s in response to a job offer from Columbia University. However, he found New York City a much less pleasant place than East Lansing, and he was back on MSU’s faculty by 1967.
Anthony was recognized with MSU’s Distinguished Teacher Award in 1956 and a Distinguished Faculty Award in 1976. Anthony and his wife Delia, became dedicated supporters of Michigan State University. Faculty, students, and visitors still their presentations in the Department’s Koo Seminar Room, and a gift from the family established the Delia Koo International Academic Center.