Jewell Rasmussen
BS Economics
Chairman of Economics Dept. (retired)
University of Utah
Dr. Rasmussen graduated from Snow College in 1929 prior to attending the University of Utah where he received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Economics. He embarked on his teaching career at Granite High School and concurrently pursued his masters degree in economics at the University of Utah, receiving his graduate degree in 1936. After teaching a year at Weber College, Dr. Rasmussen became Director of Research for the Utah Education Association where he served until 1942 when he joined the faculty of the Economics Department at the University of Utah. In the same year he was elected a member of the Board of Directors of Educators Mutual Insurance Association. In 1945 he was elected President of Educators Mutual, a position he held until 1985. Dr. Rasmussen was awarded his doctoral degree in economics from Stanford University and continued his teaching career at the University of Utah, rising from the ranks of instructor to professor. For ten years he served as chairman of the Economics Department. It was said of him that as chairman "he was responsible for the department's intellectual diversity, intellectual and academic tolerance as well as our fiercely maintained climate of intellectual freedom . . ." His economics research focused primarily on state and local finance. He retired from the University of Utah in 1977.