Thomas Naylor (1945-2025)
On February 15, 2025, our esteemed colleague, Robin Thomas Naylor, sadly passed away at the age of 79. Tom was born July 27, 1945 and grew up in Woodstock, Ontario. After receiving his BA from the University of Toronto (Breuls Gold Medal)and MA at the London School of Economics (Commonwealth Scholar), Tom went on to complete his PhD at Kings College Cambridge (Kings was JM Keynes College).
Tom came to 9I制作厂免费 in 1973 along with Paul Davenport. While Davenport, an able macro-growth economist, went on to make his mark as presidents of the University of Alberta and the University of Western Ontario, Tom made his reputation by writing more than ten books and scores of referred articles which challenged established thought.
Tom came to 9I制作厂免费 as an economic historian and that was his main teaching and research field in his first several years at 9I制作厂免费. In 1975 his two volume The History of Canadian Business was published. It was a remarkably informative and insightful work but apparently stirred controversy in the economic history community by challenging established views.
Tom was an historian鈥檚 economic historian where narrative is important at a time when 鈥淐liometrics鈥� with its focus on formally testing hypotheses was overtaking the economic history field. Tom decided it was time to move to greener鈥攁nd darker-- pastures. He had already begun to pave the way with a new course on the Underground Economy, which for 40 years attracted large numbers of students. This was followed by a less often taught course on the Criminal Economy. By this time, Tom has established himself as a dynamic, inspired, and dedicated teacher. The students for their part responded with high quality research projects providing Tom with valuable additional information on the underground economy.
Meanwhile, Tom鈥檚 research interests had also had turned darker. What followed was an outpouring of books, a new one appearing every few years, some published in more than one language, and most accompanied by refereed articles, on one or another of the less savory facets of economic behavior. From Hot Money to illegal finance, from economic warfare to state-financed crime, from organized crime to the underworlds of art, gemstones, the ivory trade, and gun-running, there was hardly any sordid topic on which Tom did not leave his mark.
The very topics were controversial; they also made him a loner鈥攁 singleton in an economics department setting. However, Tom鈥檚 audience was not limited to academics and his students. I recall Tom describing the audience for his keynote address on 鈥淢oney Laundering鈥� at a conference in Florida as one third academic, one-third law enforcement officers, and one-third members of the underworld.
Tom鈥檚 scholarly transition was not over. By the 1990鈥檚 he was teaching a course on 鈥淓cological Economics鈥� as an antidote to the more formal analysis at the core of Environmental Economics. Much later he would become an Associate Member of the newly-formed 9I制作厂免费 School of the Environment (now the Bieler School) and would regularly teach a course on ecological economics and energy that he gave on the Macdonald College Campus. He had on the drawing board, scheduled for 2023, entitled 鈥淓nergy and the Ecology of War鈥�, in which 鈥渆nergy is viewed as a tool and cause of war, and its environmental impact from pre-history to the present鈥�. Evidently and sadly this work was never completed.
Tom was not easy to get to know. But those who made the effort were rewarded by his warmth, wit, wry sense of humour and of course challenging views.
Tom Naylor was a unique scholar鈥攚ell outside the mainstream. He fit well into a department that valued diversity and fine teaching. We are fortunate that Tom made his home at 9I制作厂免费. Tom Naylor retired in 2023--- a valued colleague for 50 years. He is sorely missed.
Submitted by Chris Green