Chicago Maroon Archive

Professor Allen Sanderson.

Allen Sanderson (A.M. ’70), a senior instructional professor in the Kenneth C. Griffin Department of Economics and the College, passed away on January 23. He was 81 years old.

In an email sent to economics faculty by Department Chair Azeem Shaikh, Sanderson was remembered as “a beloved instructor,” “an exemplary university citizen,” and a “strong advocate for our undergraduate students,” who wrote thousands of letters of recommendation, led discussions around the annual “Aims of Education” address, and taught courses in both economics and the Big Problems program.

“Allen’s pedagogical contribution to our department is significant,” Shaikh wrote. “Renowned for his dedication to teaching, he was honored with the Quantrell Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching in 1998. Allen holds the extraordinary distinction of having taught more students at the University of Chicago than anyone else in its history.”

In a 2022 interview, Sanderson told the Maroon he had taught over 15,000 students during his time at the University.

After receiving the Quantrell Award in 1998, Sanderson told the University of Chicago Chronicle that former students often send him emails when they’ve applied one of his lessons in real life.

“‘Most of the students in my classes do not concentrate in economics, but they often need a working knowledge of economics when they’re being interviewed for their first job,’ Sanderson said. ‘They’re happy that if asked, they can make an insightful comment about interest rates or recycling, for instance, rather than staring back at an interviewer like a deer looking into headlights,’” the Chronicle article writes.

In honor of Sanderson, the S. Joel Schur Family Economics Prize, which is awarded annually to students for their work in the Principles of Microeconomics and Principles of Macroeconomics introductory courses formerly taught by Sanderson, will be renamed the “Allen R. Sanderson Economics Prizes.”

Sanderson’s research interests included the economics of sports, economic impact analysis, and education and labor markets.

In addition to his work at the University, Sanderson was a frequent contributor to the Chicago Tribune and had a bi-monthly column in Chicago Life Magazine, where he wrote about economics and sports. He served on the editorial board of the Journal of Sports Economics, was a senior researcher at the National Opinion Research Center, and consulted for the Heartland Institute, a conservative think tank known for its skepticism of anthropogenic climate change.

Heartland Institute Vice President Jim Lakely told the Maroon that Sanderson was “a learned and persuasive public advocate for free-market economics, and certainly had a career that UofC legend Milton Friedman would look upon with admiration. His countless students were lucky to be taught by Allen, and so were we at Heartland. He will be missed.”

The Journal of Sports Economics and Chicago Life Magazine could not be reached for comment.

Sanderson’s first appearance in the Maroon was in a 1986 article discussing University community members’ predictions for Super Bowl XX. Sanderson, then associate provost, predicted that it would “be hard for the [New England] Patriots to score” given the Chicago Bears’ strong defense. He was right: the Bears won 46–10.

A 2014 UChicago News profile of Sanderson described him as an avid collector, with Oscar-winning movies, Supreme Court bobbleheads, magnets, and cat toys adorning the walls and shelves of his apartment.

Sanderson’s time at the University was not without controversy. During a 2015 graduation address, he joked about a campus climate survey that dealt with, among other things, students’ experiences with rape, sexual assault, and harassment.

He later expressed regret for the joke, calling it “offensive” and apologizing for “marring what should have been a purely celebratory event.”

One of Sanderson’s midterms for Econ 100 went viral on Twitter in 2022 for a question asking what a “real economist” would think about an argument UMass Amherst economist Isabella Weber made in favor of price controls.

Several students who had taken the class, along with Harris School professor Steven Durlauf and Booth School professor Joshua Dean, also raised concerns about what they saw as a “politically driven” reference in the question to Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT, A.B. ‘64).

In response, Sanderson said that “the principles involved [in the question] come directly from a chapter in the text I use and assigned to the students in the course.” He told critics that they needed to “grow up.”

Benjamin Rowley, a fourth-year economics major at UChicago, told the Maroon that Sanderson was “honest, and spoke as clearly and precisely as any lecturer.”

“Nobody cared more about teaching and learning than he did; Sanderson was the loving grandfather of the economics department for all of us who have studied this millennia,” Rowley said.

The University did not comment by the time of publication.

According to Shaikh, Sanderson is survived by his children, Matthew and Catherine, and his grandchildren, Andrew, Robert, and Caroline Hollander, as well as Jane and Neil Sanderson.

Zachary Leiter contributed reporting.

We ask anyone who has memories they want to share about Professor Sanderson to please contact us at editor@chicagomaroon.com.