Econ professor dies of cancer

For years, IU professors would gather at lunch to talk with Economics Professor Nicolas Spulber about any number of topics. They would have conversations on everything from current events to literature to politics and history to music.\nOn Jan. 2, Spulber died of prostate cancer, leaving behind a legacy of respect among his peers. Economics Professor Michael Kaganovich, who joined Spulber's lunchtime discussion groups several times a week, said Spulber had a unique perspective on any topic.\n"Nick was the center of attention of those lunch groups that evolved over time," he said. "We would meet in an IU cafeteria, or earlier we met in the Tudor room. There were a number of people involved and many people joined in once in a while. It was always a very intellectually stimulating exchange, be it politics, university life, economics, music, mathematics. He was this intellectual inspiration. It certainly went far beyond economics. He had this intellectual presence that is already missed greatly."\nPart of the reason for that presence was due to Spulber's unique life experience. Coming to the IU Economics Department in 1954, he had already lived a pair of lives, according to Spulber's friend and Professor Emeritus of Comparative Literature Matei Calinescu.\nSpulber began as a journalist in his native Romania after graduating from the University of Bucharest in 1934. He worked for four years there and then moved to France during World War II where he joined the French resistance. After the war, he became a French citizen and worked again as a journalist. Spulber moved to the U.S. in 1948, and six years later, after attending MIT, he came to IU.\n"He actually had three lives," Calinescu said. "His first life was Romanian-educated journalist. Then he had a French life. Then from '48 on, he became an American and pursued a career in economics. These three lives explain perhaps his versatility."\nSpulber lectured at IU until 1980, developing into an expert on the Soviet and post-Soviet economy. Following his retirement, Spulber didn't relax. He continued to go to work every day in Wylie Hall until late 2003 and published six of his 20 books after his retirement. His latest, "Russia's Economic Transitions," came out last year. \nDistinguished Professor Emeritus of Economics Robert Campbell said Spulber's work was his driving force. \n"(That was) just his nature, a part of his life," Campbell said. "He never gave up that part of his life. He retired, but that didn't change what he was about, what he wanted to do. Other people retire and say they've had it -- 'I can now do something else.' Nick was not that way. He still wanted to learn about and write about anything he didn't know."\nAs Spulber became sicker last year, he had to stop dining in the groups across campus and would instead meet with professors and friends in his home. Although physically weak, Spulber was still the same center of discussion as ever, Kaganovich said.\n"Two of us had lunches almost daily," he said. "But it was the same. Until the very end, he was an inspiration. Maybe that is the most striking thing -- he became very sick last August physically, so he was unable to continue working. Many colleagues would visit him at home and the conversations were just like in the past. You wouldn't even think this was a person who was suffering or was weak. His intellect did not decline even until his last day."\n-- Contact campus editor Gavin Lesnick at glesnick@indiana.edu.