Perlman, Jacob

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PERLMAN, JACOB

PERLMAN, JACOB (1898–1967), U.S. economist. Perlman was born in Bialystok, Poland, and was taken to the United States in 1912. After a brief period of teaching at the University of North Dakota he entered government service, and during the 1930s worked with the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Social Security Administration. In 1949 he became a technical expert for the United Nations and was sent as economic adviser to the governments of Colombia, Greece, Bolivia, and the Philippines. From 1956 to 1965 he was head of the Office of Economic and Manpower Studies of the National Science Foundation. In addition to his work for governmental and international institutions, Perlman also taught at various universities in the United States and abroad. He specialized in development economics and particularly in the study of the economic effects of science and technology. Perlman died while on a visit to Israel.

bibliography:

New York Times (April 10, 1968), 43.

[Joachim O. Ronall]