Robert Resek

Bob was very kind to me when I started working with IGPA. He brought me in on a project about the economic benefits of higher education to the state. I remember that previous reports on the topic had been based on sloppy thinking and Bob wanted to do it right. He had great concepts and I learned a lot. Also, I remember that even as a retired professor who had also been an administrator for years, he had great technical skills. As a much younger colleague who fancied myself pretty...

For many years, I looked forward to coffee-hour at IPGA every Wednesday morning, where I would hear endless entertaining stories from Bob and the late Sam Gove. They both knew University of Illinois history inside out, but could also cover virtually any topic at all related to politics or economics. I must have dozens of stylized facts in my head that I got from Bob. How do large organizations usually handle embezzlement? Everything I know about that, I heard from him. Bob was an excellent...