British economist, born in St. Lucia in the
West Indies. He studied and taught at the
London School of Economics, before becoming
professor of economics at Manchester (19481958), where he did some of his most important
work on development economics. He then
became the first president of the University of
the West Indies (1959-1963). From 1963 until his
retirement in 1983, he taught at Princeton, and
his lectures on economic development were
masterful, but most Ph.D. students in those days
preferred to specialise in more technical fields.
Sir Arthur advised international organisations
Sir W. Arthur Lewis
and national governments, especially in West
(1915-1990)
Africa and the Caribbean. In 1979 he shared the
Nobel Prize for economics for his contributions
to development economics. He was president of
the American Economic Association in 1983.