Cross, Ira B. (Ira Brown), 1880-

Biography

Ira Brown Cross, a descendant of William Bradford and John and Priscilla Alden of the Plymouth Colony, was born December 1, 1880 in Decatur, Illinois. He received his A.B. and M.A. degrees from the University of Wisconsin, and while a student there became a member of the Socialist Party. In 1904 he served as the Assistant Secretary of the National Convention of the Socialist Party in Chicago. Cross received his Ph.D. from Stanford University in 1909. He remained at Stanford as a professor until 1914, when--despite his radical economic views--he was asked by University of California president Benjamin Ide Wheeler to accept a position in the Department of Economics at the University of California at Berkeley. Cross accepted and would remain at the University of California until his retirement in 1951. During his tenure at Berkeley he significantly expanded the scope of the Department of Economics and gained a reputation as a challenging, iconoclastic instructor and impassioned lecturer who was able to enliven student interest in a field often referred to as the "dismal science." An estimated 60,000 students enrolled in his classes during his career. Cross was Chair of the Department of Economics in the 1919-1920 and 1923-1924 school years. In 1951 Cross was awarded the LL.D. degree from the University of Wisconsin, and in 1958 was awarded the same degree from the University of California. In 1964 he was honored with the dedication of the Ira B. Cross Room in Barrows Hall on the campus of the University of California at Berkeley. In addition to his career in academia, Cross was also active in arbitration and strike-breaking efforts, and created one of the nation's first employment management training courses. He also served as a member of the American Institute of Banking from 1935 to 1960, for whom he taught and contributed important educational texts. Cross also helped to form the Berkeley Police School, an internationally recognized crime prevention program. After his retirement, Cross pursued his interest in the cultivation of chrysanthemums, becoming such an authority on the subject that he served as associate editor of the Bulletin of the National Chrysanthemum Society . Ira B. Cross died March 24, 1977.

In addition to publishing numerous articles and reviews, Cross also wrote several volumes on economics and banking, among them the following: Cooperative Stores in the United States (1906); Essentials of Socialism (1911); Collective Bargaining in San Francisco (1917); Domestic and Foreign Exchange (1923); History of Banking in California (1927); Economics (1931); Money and Banking (1931); and A History of the Labor Movement of California (1935).

(Sources: Cross, Ira B. (interviewee),Portrait of an Economics Professor: Oral History Transcript,Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, California,1967; In Memoriam,Academic Senate, University of California, Berkeley, California,1978 edition.)

Biography

Ira B. Cross was born December 1, 1880, in Decatur, Illinois, the son of a working man. Due to the influence of a high school teacher, he decided to go to college, and earned his own way through the University of Wisconsin. He graduated with honors in economics, receiving his A.B. in 1905, and completing his M.A. in the same field in 1906. While he was a student there, he joined the Socialist Party and served as assistant secretary of the National Convention of the Socialist Party in Chicago in 1904.

In 1906, Cross went to Stanford as an instructor in economics while working for his Ph.D., which he received in 1909. His thesis, History of the Labor Movement in California, was enlarged and published by the University of California Press in 1935. While still an instructor at Stanford, Cross became Secretary of the California Industrial Accident Commission and was a special agent for the United States Immigration Commission during 1914-1915.

In spite of his reputation for radical views, Professor Cross was called to the University of California by Benjamin Ide Wheeler in 1914 and taught there until his retirement in 1951. He helped start the Berkeley Police School which has produced a model police force, famous throughout the country. Professor Cross taught courses in labor management during World War I and was also involved in arbitration and strike-settling activities. He was chairman of the Department of Economics during 1919-1920 and 1923-1924.

Ira B. Cross served as vice-president of the American Economic Association in 1925-1926, president of the Pacific Coast Economic Association in 1928, and member of the board of regents of the American Institute of Banking from 1935 to 1960. The University of Wisconsin gave him the LL.D. degree in 1951, and in 1957, he received the LL.D. from the University of California. In 1964, The Ira B. Cross Room was dedicated in Barrows Hall at the University of California, Berkeley.