JOEL SEGALL, FORMER PRESIDENT OF BARUCH, DIES AT AGE 80

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  Joel Segall, for 13 years the president of Baruch College, the home of the nations largest school of business, died on Thursday, October 9, 2003. He was 80 years old and lived for many years in Branford, Connecticut. Segall, a distinguished economist, was instrumental in developing the Master Plan that led to the creation of a permanent home for Baruch College on lower Lexington Avenue in Manhattan.

  Joel Segall was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and educated at the University of Chicago, where he received an MBA in 1949, an AM in 1952, and a PhD in Economics in 1956. He taught at the University of Chicago for nearly 20 years, at one point serving as its director of doctoral programs.

  On August 1, 1977, Segall became the third president of Baruch College, a position he held until 1990. At the same time, he was named professor of economics and finance.

  During his tenure, there was considerable uncertainty about the future of Baruch College, including serious consideration of relocating an expanded Baruch campus to downtown Brooklyn. Segall resisted all such efforts and was instrumental in the campaign to keep Baruch anchored in Manhattan. When the Baruch College Library and Technology Center opened in 1994, Segall was present at the dedication and read a poem he had composed to celebrate the occasion.

  He was interested in upgrading standards and creating a climate in which research could thrive," said June ONeill, an economist and former director of the Congressional Budget Office. ONeill, whom Segall recruited in 1987, is the current director of the Center for Business and Government, which Segall established as a vehicle for research. During his tenure Segall also brought several well-known faculty members to the Zicklin School of Business, then known as the School of Business and Public Administration. Among them was Harry Markowitz, who won the1990 Nobel Laureate in Economics.   

  Prior to joining Baruch College, Joel Segall held two government positions in the Nixon Administration. He served as the deputy assistant secretary of the treasury department from 1970-72 and later as the deputy under secretary for international affairs in the Department of Labor.

  Segall is survived by his wife, Joan, by his daughter, Patricia, and by a grandson Samuel, as well as by two sisters, Sandra and Arlyne.