Brues put ‘exclamation point’ on their time at PLU

In his words, former Professor of Economics Professor Stan Brue, along with his wife Terri, wanted to “put an exclamation point” on their long association with PLU. This past May, the university accepted their gift of $500,000 that will endow annual scholarships and offset study-away expenses for several students in the Social Sciences. Stan and Terri arrived in Tacoma in 1971, he as a new assistant professor and she as a teacher at Washington High School. During his time at PLU, he became a well-liked teacher and colleague and a very successful author. With professor emeritus Don Wentworth, he co-authored five editions of “Economic Scenes”; wrote “The Evolution of Economic Thought”, a history of economic ideas; and coauthored with his former professor Campbell McConnell “Contemporary Labor Economics.” His biggest success, “Economics,” will soon be in its 19th edition. Nearly one in four U.S. students cut their economics teeth on this text, which has sold over 14 million copies. It is also a leading seller in many other countries.

In making this gift, Stan acknowledged that such success requires not just hard work on his part, but a bit of luck and the support of his family and the entire university. He said the gift was a “thank you to department, division, and university colleagues and university administrators for providing an environment of strong encouragement, helpful support, time flexibility and, above all, a huge amount of intellectual stimulation.”

In addition to gifts in support of the Morken Center and the Xavier remodel, the Brues gave the initial gifts behind endowed scholarships in honor of former economics professors Ernie Ankrim and Marlen Miller, and in memory of the late wife of current economics professor and Dean of Social Sciences Norris Peterson. They also endowed the Brue Excellence Award, which honors outstanding economics majors. In 2008, they funded an endowment to help cover J-Term travel-related expenses for social science students.

To learn more about ensuring the legacy of PLU, please contact the Office of Development at 253-535-7177 or visit www.plu.edu/advancement/ and click on “Make a Gift.”