We are deeply saddened to share the passing of Ismael Hossein-zadeh, professor emeritus of economics.
Professor Hossein-zadeh joined Drake University faculty in the fall of 1988, where he taught classes in political economy, comparative economic systems, international economics, history of economic thought and development economics until his retirement in 2011.
His published work, consisting of three books and numerous scholarly articles, covers significant topics such as financial instability, economic crises and restructuring policies, currency-trade relations, globalization and labor, economics of war and military spending, and the roots of conflict between the Muslim world and the West. He is the author of the following books:
— Beyond Mainstream Explanations of the Financial Crisis: Parasitic Finance Capital (Routledge 2014);
— The Political Economy of U.S. Militarism (Palgrave–Macmillan 2007);
— Soviet Non-capitalist Development: The Case of Nasser’s Egypt (Praeger Publishers 1989).
Ismael Hossein-zadeh was a warm, friendly guy and a good colleague. He was a Kurd from Iran, but somehow he got his PhD in Economics from the New School for Social Research in New York City, which is known for its “heterodox” approach to economics. He held several temporary lectureship jobs at various colleges in New York before landing a tenure-track job at Drake. I am told that certain disgruntled members of the Economics Department voted to hire him because they assumed from his radical views on economics that he would aid their battle against University Administration. Their assumptions were wrong: Ismael turned out to be a friendly, cooperative guy who loved the academic life.
Ismael taught International Economics and sometimes Development Economics, as well as two courses that are no longer on the books: Comparative Economic Systems and an Honors course in Marxian Economics. Students enjoyed his easygoing manner in the classroom.
Ismael was the one active scholar in the Economics Department when I arrived at Drake in 1995. Over his career, he wrote three books and numerous papers, mostly critical of mainstream economics and U.S. foreign policy. His scholarly website (https://ismaelhossein-zadeh.com/) is still up. Though there was little overlap in our research interests, I always enjoyed seeing Ismael. He always had a smile and a joke and he frequently asked about my family.
After he retired in 2011, Ismael moved to southern California, where he had friends, and unfortunately I lost touch with him.
–Bill Boal