Background

Frederick Richard Strobel was born on August 21, 1937 in Quincy, Massachusetts, United States. He was the son of Frank Joseph and Emily Anne (Picard) Strobel.

Education

Fred graduated from North Quincy High School in 1955. In 1960, he received a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Northeastern University and got a Master of Business Administration in 1962 from the same educational establishment.

Strobel served in the United States Army Finance Corps, leaving in 1964 as a 1st Lieutenant after two years of service. In 1967, he received a Master of Arts in Economics and obtained a Doctor of Philosophy in Economics in 1969 both from Clark University.

Career

From 1960 to 1962, Fred was a fellow in accounting at Northeastern University, and then, from 1965 to 1966, he was an instructor at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Fred taught at Clark University and Holy Cross College between 1967 and 1970, moving to Atlanta in 1970 to work at the Federal Reserve Bank. From 1974 to 1994, he taught economics at Kalamazoo College, holding the Stephen B. Monroe Chair of Money and Banking. From 1979 to 1981, he also was an economist and editor at W. E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research and visiting scholar at Michigan State University from 1988 to 1989. In 1992, Strobel was invited to Moscow State University as visiting professor of economics.

Fred moved to Sarasota, Florida, in 1994 to teach at the New College of the University of South Florida (now New College of Florida), where he held the William G. and Marie Selby Chair of Economics until 2008.

Throughout his life, he remained concerned with economic justice. He predicted much of the economic struggles of the working class in the country in his two books.

Achievements

• Frederick Strobel was a prolific scholar who published articles in Business Week, The American Banker, The Eastern Economic Journal and the Journal of Economic Issues. He was a much sought-after viewpoint writer for the Kalamazoo Gazette, the Detroit News and other daily newspapers, and he was a frequent radio talk show guest on the subjects of the decline of the middle class and the creation of a two-class society in the United States. Fred is also known for his two books, Upward Dreams, Downward Mobility: The Economic Decline of the American Middle Class (1993) and The Coming Class War and How to Avoid It (1999).

Works

More photos

• book

  • Upward Dreams, Downward Mobility: The Economic Decline of the American Middle Class

    (In Upward Dreams, Downward Mobility economist Frederick S...)

    1993
  • The Coming Class War and How to Avoid It: Rebuilding the American Middle Class

    (A clear, accessible analysis of the worsening distributio...)

    1999

Membership

Strobel was a member of the American Economic Association, Association for Evolutionary Economics and Rotary.

Interests

• Sport & Clubs

  Tennis

Connections

In 1962, Strobel married Marilyn Anne Cooke, but they divorced in 1987. They had two children: Heidi and Gretchen.

Father:

Frank Joseph Strobel

Mother:

Emily Anne (Picard) Strobel

Daughter:

Heidi Strobel

Daughter:

Gretchen Strobel

ex-wife:

Marilyn Anne Cooke

References

• Contemporary Authors New Revision Series In response to the escalating need for up-to-date information on writers, Contemporary Authors New Revision Series (Volume 198) brings researchers the most recent data on the world's most popular authors.
  2010