Economist, author, professor, activist

Harvey Joshua Levin was born on July 1, 1924 in New York City. He received his A.B. from Hamilton College (Clinton, New York) in 1944, while achieving department honors in French and being elected to Phi Beta Kappa. In addition to his fluency in French, he also considered Japanese a major language, and Chinese, German, Italian, and Spanish as minor language concentrations.

In U.S. Office of Strategic Services (later U.S. Central Intelligence Agency), 1944

Shortly after graduation, he served as a Research Analyst and Foreign Language Officer for the Office of Strategic Services (Washington), U.S. Strategic Bomb Survey (Japan), and the Civil Information and Education section of the War Department (1944-46). He received both his A.M. (1948) and Ph.D. (1953) in economics from Columbia University. During the Summer of 1948, he was an Oxford University Scholar in Economics. While working on his advanced degrees in economics, he taught economics at Columbia (1947-49, 1953-55), Rutgers (1948-49), Bard College (1949-50), and was Assistant Professor of Economics at Penn State (1950-54).

He joined Hofstra in 1955 as an Assistant Professor of Economics, becoming an Associate Professor (1956-62), Professor (1962-64), and Chairman of Economics (1961-64). In 1964 he was appointed Augustus B. Weller Professor of Economics¹ (1964-1989). In addition to his concentration in economics, in 1975 he was appointed Special Professor of Law (Hofstra Law School), and in that same year became the Coordinating Chairperson for the Faculty Public Policy Workshop.² In addition, in 1989 he was appointed University Research Professor.

At Harvard Law School, circa 1963-64

Dr. Levin’s areas of research were supported, in part, by the National Science Foundation [1971-72, 1973-78, 1984-90], the Russell Sage Foundation [1978-79], and Resources for the Future [1964-69, 1980-82]. He was a Visiting Scholar (Department of Economics/National Bureau of Economic Research, Hoover Institute, Center for Educational Research), Stanford University [Summers 1982-1991]; Visiting Fellow, Center for Strategic and International Studies, Georgetown University [1982-1983]; Visiting Professor of Economics and Business Economics, Columbia University [1964 and 1973]; Carnegie Fellow in Law and Economics at Harvard University [1963-64]; and a Brookings National Research Professor in Economics [1959-60]. In 1986 he was elected to the Cosmos Club of Washington, D.C.³

At Hoover Institute, latter 1980s

Dr. Levin felt that his interests centered around three major themes: the broadcast industry, with emphasis on public policy towards broadcasting, satellite organization, cable television, and other mass media; the political economy, technology, and administrative regulation of far-flung global resources, with emphasis on the radio spectrum and orbital arc used for worldwide communications; and the exploration of selected interstices of economic science and other academic disciplines.

He also had an international reputation for his work in telecommunications; with particular stress on the political dimensions of radio and television regulations and the ramifications of communication satellites. He authored well over 70 articles and several books: Broadcast Regulation and Joint Ownership of Media (1960), The Invisible Resource: Use and Regulation of the Radio Spectrum (1971); Fact and Fancy in Television Regulation (1980); and as editor of Business Organization and Public Policy (1958).

Just prior to his death, he had signed a contract with Oxford University Press, in April, 1992, for another book, Harvesting the Invisible Resource, which was to be a follow-up of his 1971 book, The Invisible Resource.

In Washington, D.C., April 1972

While at Hofstra, in addition to his other responsibilities, he served as a consultant to numerous organizations, such as: Office of Technology Assessment, U.S. Congress; General Accounting Office; Bureau of Economics, Federal Trade Commission; Committee for Economic Development; New Jersey Coalition for Fair Broadcasting; Computer Sciences Corporation; Resources for the Future; Brookings Institute; Antitrust Division, U.S. Dept. of Justice; Ford Foundation; United Research Inc.; New York State Moreland Commission; Bureau of Applied Social Research; and the Center for Policy Research. His topics included: U.S. Stake in Global Spectrum Management; FCC Spectrum Management; Telecommunication Policy; National Policy for Broadcasting and Cable Television; Spectrum Allocation Issues; ABC-ITT Merger; Satellite Projects; Television Group Ownership; Economics Assessment of Liquor Licensing; Regulatory Filing; and Educational Television.

Testifying for U.S.-Asia Institute, 1970s

He also gave numerous talks, seminars, and colloquia nation- and worldwide. He graced such universities as: M.I.T., Michigan State, Michigan, Hawaii, University of Pennsylvania, Princeton, Rhode Island, and Virginia. His conference presentations included: American Economic Association, Atlantic Economic Society; East-West Center, International Association of Satellite Users; Institute of Telecommunication Science, International Communications Agency, Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, Pacific Telecommunication Council, US-Asian Institute, and Western Economic Association International.

Dr. Levin was also a community activist, concerned with government control of the media. He gave a number of presentations dealing with censorship and legislation in Congress that impacted First Amendment rights. In the early 1950s he was on the National Council of the National Emergency Civil Liberties Union, and in the 1970s he was a member of the "Man in Crisis Committee" at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Central Nassau and was a member of the National Citizens Committee for Broadcasting. In 1979, he served on the Honorary Advisory Board of the Long Island Coalition for Fair Broadcasting, Inc.

Presenting Rhoda Levin Award, May 5, 1991

In 1975, in memory of his deceased wife, Dr. Levin and his son, Adam, established the "Rhoda Pinsley Levin Memorial Award in Musical Performance" at Hofstra. The award was to be given to a senior piano student and was initially funded for 5 years at $100 an award. The Award was later reestablished in 1989, as the "Rhoda Pinsley Levin Award for Excellence in Music Performance."

For biographical information on Levin, see:

1) Contemporary Authors, Vols., 9-12, pp. 513-514. Detroit: Gale Research Company, 1974.

2) Contemporary Authors, Vol. 137, pp. 270-271. Detroit: Gale Research Inc., 1992.

Note: Certain papers in this collection are restricted.

See: Citations, Awards, Certificates Collection.

Video Tape Collection – 117.