Frank Musgrave

Frank Musgrave joined the Department of Economics faculty in 1968. A long-time chair of the department, he retired in 2010 after 42 years of service to the college. His influence had a profound effect on the character of the department, a legacy that remains today.

Frank loved his students and Ithaca College as much as he loved his family. His commitment to excellence in teaching was unwavering, and he saw humor as a critical means of engaging students. He always found a way to mix his dry humor in with technically challenging economic theory and application. As a result, his students responded with genuine affection when recalling their time in Frank's classes.

Frank helped create Students in Free Enterprise at Ithaca College as a local chapter of the national organization. Each year this club put together presentations for local, regional, and national competitions, and consistently won trophies and awards.

Outside the classroom, Frank shared many stories and anecdotes, often employed to ease into a difficult issue while making a point. One of Frank's enduring legacies is his interest in a free and unabashed debate where opinions may diverge.

Frank was honored to have been a part of The Oxford Round Table in England four times.

In May 2013, Frank was awarded the title of Professor Emeritus posthumously by the Ithaca College Board of Trustees.

Frank passed away unexpectedly after a brief illness, and is remembered by wife Eva Mae Gifford Musgrave '76; son Scott Kenneth Musgrave '84; and daughter Marcia Carol Musgrave '85.

Frank and Eva Mae, friends from my home town never to be forgotten.

Bill Staubach

Frank was a friend; an academic colleague from those days when we taught on opposite Ithaca hills, and the kind of man that all of his younger colleagues wished to emulate in his use of gentle humor, combined with the easy mastery of his discipline.

He was kind enough to develop and deliver several lectures in many of my courses in the Hotel School at Cornell, and there was always a line of students waiting to speak with him after his class appearances. It was this kind of teacher that Professor Henry Brooks Adams, (1838-1918), the American journalist, historian, academic and novelist of Harvard, had in mind when he once observed: “A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.”

We shall miss Frank and his puckish humor, along with his warm friendship. I have no doubt that he is, at this very moment, telling the other inhabitants of that heavenly hotel how fortunate they are in enjoying their current accommodations with no required daily rate.

God bless you Frank!

Malcolm A. Noden, Senior Lecturer (Retired), School of Hotel Administration, Cornell University