Economist Arndt dies in road accident

Economist Heinz W. Arndt died on Monday morning in a car accident in Canberra. He was 87.

The noted Australian scholar was involved in an unfortunate car accident on the campus of Australian National University (ANU), the institution he had served as professor of economics from 1950 to 1980.

Scholars in Asia are no strangers to Arndt's work.

Ian Chubb, ANU vice chancellor, noted that Arndt was one of the first to recognize the importance of the Asia-Pacific region to Australia.

James Fox, director of the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, also pointed out one of Arndt's most outstanding contributions: "He established the world's leading journal on the Indonesian economy, the Bulletin of Indonesian Economic Studies."

Apart from teaching and writing, Arndt was also once the Australian ambassador to China.

Born in Germany in 1915, Arndt attained his Master's degree at the Lincoln College, Oxford.

Before moving to Australia in 1946, he worked at the London School of Economics (1938-1941) and at Manchester University (1943-1946).

In 1950 he took up the newly created chair in economics at the Canberra University College. In 1963, he became the head of the Department of Economics at the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies of the Australian National University, where he was to remain until his retirement in 1980.

Arndt is survived by three children, nine grandchildren and one great grandchild. His wife, Ruth, died in Canberra in 2001.