Bertrand Nathan Horwitz

Bertrand (“Bert”) Nathan Horwitz died in Asheville, NC on July 17, 2023. He was born in Chicago, IL, on March 12, 1927, to Max Solomon and Esther (Green) Horwitz. Bert leaves his wife of 70 years, Hertha (Ostre) Horwitz, and his children Eve Horwitz, Neal Horwitz, and Mara Smith, and grandchildren Shelly Horwitz, Dylan Smith, Natalia Smith, Elaine Emmerich, Elias Smith, Elah Horwitz, Hank Horwitz, and Jared Smith, his sister Norma Fenves, sons- and daughter-in-law Steve Emmerich, Jane Horan, and Bill Smith, brother-in-law Steve Fenves, and extended family along with a wide circle of friends, colleagues, former students, and others whose lives he touched around the world. Bert dropped out of high school and joined the US Navy in 1944 at age 17 and served with an air/sea rescue unit in the Azores Islands. Upon returning to Chicago, he received his AB and MA from the University of Chicago and his Ph.D. in Management and Economics from the University of Minnesota in 1961. His thesis during the Cold War was on Soviet Economics and Accounting. Bert served as an Assistant, Associate, and Full Professor at the University of Rochester, Syracuse University, and Binghamton University. Upon retiring in Asheville, he was an adjunct professor at UNC-Asheville in its Economics Department. He was also a visiting professor at MIT (Sloan Teaching Fellow), the University of Toronto, Cornell University, University of Chicago, the National Center for Science and Technology Management (Dalian, China), Haifa University, Chinese University of Hong Kong, and City University of Hong Kong. In 1981 Bert was invited by the US Commerce Department and Education Department to be part of a select group of academics to teach a condensed MBA equivalent to Chinese management professionals, and he taught American accounting procedures to make management decisions. His lectures in China during 1981, 1982, and 1984 had five printings in Chinese during a time when China was transitioning from state control to private property laws and free markets. In 1992 he received the NY Governor’s Award for Exporting Excellence from Mario Cuomo for his work assisting small and medium-sized New York State firms through market research in China and Taiwan. Bert was the author and co-author of several books and several dozen articles in the fields of microeconomics, accounting, and finance, served as a consultant for the United Nations Committee on Transnational Corporations, and consulted for many years to the Hong Kong government for university research proposals. One of Bert's favorite post-retirement avocations was writing letters to the editor on a broad array of topics. The Wall St Journal requested he use another name to publish more of his letters, which also appeared in the New York Times, The Economist, the Financial Times, and op-ed columns in the Asheville Citizen-Times. Bert will be remembered for staying in resolute contact with family and friends, often clipping and sending newspaper or magazine articles with the heading "In Case You Missed It." Visiting hours will be 3-6 p.m. on July 20 and 21 at the residence. Burial is to be held at 2:00 p.m. EST on Thursday, November 9, 2023, at the Western Carolina Veterans Cemetery, 962 Old US Hwy 70, Black Mountain, NC 28711. In addition, there will be a Zoom memorial service at 2:00 p.m. EST on November 12, 2023. Please contact a family member for details. Memorial donations may be made to Congregation Beth HaTephila (43 No. Liberty St., Asheville, NC 28801), the American Committee of the Weizmann Institute for Science (633 Third Ave., NYC, NY 10017), or a charity of your choice.

Tributes

Bertrand Nathan Horwitz

March 12, 1927 - July 17, 2023