Tugwell, Rexford Guy

(1891-1979)

   Rexford Tugwell, who was born in Sinclairville, New York, was a graduate of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Finance and Commerce. He was briefly a professor at Washington University and the American University in Paris, before taking the post of professor of economics at Columbia University, which he held from 1920 until 1937. In 1932, he joined President Roosevelt’s “Brain Trust” and became undersecretary of agriculture. In 1935, he became head of the Resettlement Administration but resigned in 1937 because of the criticism the agency received. After a year in business, he became a member of the New York Planning Commission. In 1942, he was appointed governor of Puerto Rico and served until 1946. From 1946 until 1957, Tugwell was professor at the University of Chicago and then a member of the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions in Santa Barbara, California. He retired in 1964. Tugwell authored 20 books, including The Democratic Roosevelt (1957) and The Brains Trust (1968).