Kilby Remembered for His Dedication to the College of Social Studies

Peter Kilby, professor of economics, emeritus, died Aug. 2, 2018, at the age of 83.

Kilby received his BA from Harvard University, his MA from Johns Hopkins University, and his DPhil from the University of Oxford. He worked with USAID as an Industrial Economist in Nigeria for two years before arriving at Wesleyan in 1965.

He was an economist whose work focused on economic development, particularly in Africa. Over his career, Kilby held appointments as a Fulbright Fellow, a Ford Foundation Foreign Area Fellow, a Woodrow Wilson Fellow, and a Guggenheim Fellow. He was a Senior Advisor of the ILO World Employment Programme in Geneva, a member of the Ciskei Commission in South Africa, and served as a consultant for the governments of Malaysia and Tanzania, the World Bank in Kenya and Nigeria, USAID, the U.S. State Department, and the Food & Agricultural Organization, among others.

“Peter Kilby was a respected scholar and beloved teacher with a wide range of friends at Wesleyan not only among those of us in the Social Sciences but throughout Wesleyan’s three divisions. He was one of the stars of CSS,” recalled Mike Lovell, the Chester D. Hubbard Professor of Economics and Social Sciences, Emeritus.

“Much of the success of the CSS is the result of Peter Kilby’s astonishing dedication to the CSS as an institution and to his CSS students,” said Cecilia Miller, professor of history, co-chair of the College of Social Studies, professor of medieval studies.

Kilby is survived by his wife, Marianne Kilby, his three children, Damian, Christopher, and Karen, and his six grandchildren.

The funeral service will be held at St. Lawrence Church in Killingworth, Conn. at 10 a.m., Aug. 21. A memorial service will be held on campus later this year. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial contributions be made in Peter’s name to the College of Social Studies Endowment Fund, which supports many things that Peter loved including the CSS Newsletter, to the care of Marcy Herlihy, University Relations, 318 High Street, Middletown, CT 06459.