Jeffrey Gale Williamson

Jeffrey (Jeff) Williamson died peacefully in the early morning hours of August 29 at the age of 90.

 Jeff was born November 26, 1935, in New Haven, Connecticut to Kossuth and Martha Williamson. The Williamsons had two children, Jeff and his older sister Jane. They grew up in Middletown, Connecticut, where their father was a professor at Wesleyan University. Jeff developed a lifelong love of nature that started with a childhood spent romping around the woods and creeks in the Connecticut River Valley. Jeff graduated from Deerfield Academy where he competed on the swim team and insisted, to raised eyebrows, that he played center for the "Big Green" football team. 

After high school, Jeff attended Wesleyan University. He started off in studio arts where he created lithographic prints that are treasured by his family to this day. Jeff originally set his sights on architecture but at some point switched to mathematics and earned his degree in 1957. 

We shared the following story in our mother's obituary, and we love it so much that we can't help but share it again here. In December 1956, Jeff was shopping at R.W. Camp men's store in Middletown, Connecticut, on the eve of the Christmas holiday. He spotted a beautiful young woman across the store and asked the owner, "who is that?" "That's one of the Penfield girls," was the response - specifically, Nancy Ann Penfield of Portland, Connecticut (who indeed had four other sisters). Jeff discovered that Nancy would be attending a New Year's Eve party the next week and finagled an invitation to attend. Things moved quickly from there, and they were married in Portland's Trinity Church on August 23, 1958. 

Jeff and Nancy spent their first years of marriage in Palo Alto, California, where he attended graduate school at Stanford University, receiving a PhD in economics in 1961. After two years at Vanderbilt University (1961-1963), he and his growing family moved to Madison where he made his career as Professor of Economics at the University of Wisconsin. Jeff and Nancy had four children, Megan, Hilary, Kirk, and Amy, all born in different cities. They were largely raised in Madison, which has continued to be the epicenter of family life, despite various relocations. 

In 1983 after all the children graduated from high school, Jeff moved to Harvard University, where he remained until his retirement in 2008 as the Laird Bell Professor of Economics. The move to Cambridge, Massachusetts, was particularly important for Jeff as he and Nancy were able to return to New England after so many years away. After retirement they moved back to Madison, where they lived together until Nancy's death in 2021. 

Jeff was one of the world's foremost scholars in economic history, with a focus on globalization, inequality, and developing economies. He authored an astounding 31 books and 255 articles. Listing his honors and awards alone would take up this entire obituary. He was a dedicated teacher and mentor and the awards he was most proud of were those he received in that capacity, including: the Galbraith Prize (for the best teacher in the Harvard graduate economics program), the Energizer Bunny Award (given by all his PhD students), the Hughes Prize for Teaching Excellence (awarded by the Economic History Association), and the Hoopes Prize (for the best Harvard senior honors thesis received by sixteen of his past students). 

One of Jeff's greatest joys was spending time with Nancy and his children and grandchildren at their lake cottage in Maine. Jeff and Nancy bought the cottage in September 1986, and they spent weekends and, eventually, full summers there. He enjoyed his time in Maine working on the house, chopping firewood, swimming, and building woodland trails. He had his last swim in the lake only two weeks before his death. The cottage was a place for many family gatherings with children and grandchildren filled with swimming, playing games and cards, book reading, long dinners, and listening to Boston Red Sox games on the radio. Across their years together, Jeff and Nancy traveled the world connecting with colleagues and friends wherever they went. They shared their love for travel with their grandchildren, taking each of them on a special trip, just the three of them. 

Following Nancy's death and a difficult transition to life without her, Jeff was fortunate to find love again with Victoria Athena Topp. Jeff and Vicky enjoyed endless hours of conversation, music, and laughter together. It was great to see him so happy again and he felt fortunate to be welcomed into Vicky's large and loving family. 

Jeff, our Dad, was endlessly energetic, joyful, playful, and positive. He was open-minded and loved to tell a story. (Poppy stories are EPIC in the Williamson family.) He was a lifelong swimmer, a love he also passed on to each of his children. He loved sports, different teams at different times of life. He taught all his children to love and respect nature and being outdoors. His children will never forget him taking them to the Hoyt Park toboggan slide at night, or to Picnic Point when the ice was smooth. Pulling them on a metal flying saucer with a long rope, he would skate as hard as he could, then whip the rope and send them flying, flying across the lake, screaming their heads off with joy. 

Jeff lost his vision due to macular degeneration in a slow process that began in his mid-seventies. He would probably have continued publishing into his late 80s if he had not lost his sight. And yet, his grace, positivity, and acceptance in the face of a truly difficult disability were remarkable and inspiring. 

Jeff was loved by colleagues, friends, and students around the country and world. He is survived by his children Megan, Hilary (Tom Hoynes), Kirk, and Amy (David Williamson Shaffer); his grandchildren Sarah, Ariyel, Erin, Nell, and Maya; his sister Jane's children Jennifer and Jeff; and his partner, Vicky Topp. A celebration of his life is planned in the coming months in Madison.

Cress Funeral & Cremation Service

3610 Speedway Road Madison

(608) 238-3434