Penn Arts and Sciences Names Marc Flandreau the Howard Marks Professor of Economic History

Dean Steven J. Fluharty is pleased to announce that Marc Flandreau has joined Penn Arts and Sciences as the Howard Marks Professor of Economic History. Previously, Flandreau was professor of international history at the Graduate Institute of International Studies and Development in Geneva.  

A leading historian and economist who studies the international monetary system and the financial entanglements of international institutions from the mid-19th century to World War I, Flandreau has published three books, Anthropologists in the Stock Exchange: A Financial History of Victorian Science; The Glitter of Gold: France, Bimetallism, and the Emergence of the International Gold Standard; and Money Doctors: The Experience of International Financial Advising, 1850-2000. 

He is the recipient of numerous prizes and awards, and his research has received support from Bank Mirabaud, the Fondation Bank de France and France’s Agence Nationale de la Recherche. He is co-founder and former president of the European Historical Economics Society and serves on the editorial boards of leading journals in economic history.  

The Howard Marks Professorship in Economic History was established in 2012 by Howard S. Marks, W’67, and his wife, Nancy. Marks is the founder and co-chair of Oaktree Capital Management, LLC. As chair of the University Trustee’s Investment Board from 2000-2010—a decade bookended by major financial crises—he avoided the market’s excesses and grew the endowment from $3.2 billion to $5.9 billion, receiving national recognition for his management. 

He is also a writer whose memos are eagerly anticipated across the financial world for their wisdom, charm, and clarity. Many of these, along with commentary, are gathered in The Most Important Thing Illuminated: Uncommon Sense for the Thoughtful Investor.

In addition to establishing this professorship, Howard and Nancy Marks generously established the Marks Family Writing Center and are long-time scholarship supporters for students in all four undergraduate schools. They also recently endowed the Howard Marks University Professorship and the Howard Marks Investor Speaker Series at Wharton. Howard Marks is an emeritus trustee of the University of Pennsylvania.