The Erwin Plein Nemmers Prize in Economics
and
The Frederic Esser Nemmers Prize in Mathematics
Erwin Esser Nemmers, who persuaded his brother to join him
in making a substantial contribution to Northwestern, served
as a member of the faculty of the Kellogg Graduate School
of Management from 1957 until his retirement in 1986. Along
with his brother, Frederic E. Nemmers, he was a principal
in a Milwaukee-based, family-owned church music publishing
house. Erwin Nemmers was a man of wide-ranging interests.
He followed his undergraduate work in music with a masters
degree in that field. Over the years, he also earned a law
degree from Harvard, a degree in aeronautical engineering
from Iowa, and doctorates in both economics and law from Wisconsin.
His passion for learning was apparently accompanied by a shrewd
business sense; and, along with his faculty position, he held
a number of corporate directorships. His entrepreneurial skill
as well as his insight into the workings of the financial
markets, which he generously shared with his brother Frederic,
provided the resources that enabled them to make gifts to
Northwestern on their deaths, collectively amounting to $14
million.
Those gifts were designated by Erwin and Frederic Nemmers
for two purposes: the establishment of four endowed professorships
in the Kellogg Graduate School of Management and the establishment
of the Nemmers Prizes.
In establishing the Nemmers Prize endowment, Erwin and Frederic
Nemmers envisioned prizes in a variety of areas, including
not only economics and mathematics but also possibly, in the
future, in such areas as geology, engineering, musical composition,
and medical science. They also hoped that the various Nemmers
Prizes would carry with them both the prestige and emoluments
attached to the Nobel prizes. In the event, and as the Nemmerses
understood, their endowment gift was insufficient to fund
initially a prize of Nobel magnitude. Thus, they provided
that -- until the fund was sufficient to support prizes at
a level equivalent to the Nobels --most of the income from
their gift should be returned each year to principal, with
a portion being used to fund prizes more modest than the Nobel
in stipend if not in stature.
Consistent with the terms of the Nemmers bequests, the Erwin
Plein Nemmers Prize in Economics (named in honor of the Nemmers'
father) and the Frederic Esser Nemmers Prize in Mathematics
(named by Erwin in honor of his brother) are designed to recognize
"work of lasting significance" in the respective
disciplines. In particular, the prizes recognize "major
contributions to new knowledge or the development of significant
new modes of analysis."
Each prize is currently $150,000.
2007 - 2008 Nemmers Prize Winners
Recipients
of the Erwin Plein Nemmers Prize in Economics
Recipients
of the Frederic Esser Nemmers Prize in Mathematics
Michael Ludwig Nemmers Prize in Musical Composition (administered by School of Music)
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