December 24, 2020 — Richard N. Cooper (Dick), who passed away Wednesday evening at the age of 86, was always young for his age. Jim Tobin once told me a story from when Dick was a senior staff economist at the President’s Council of Economic Advisers (1961-63). He used to bring his bicycle into his office at the Old Executive Office Building. As I remember the story, President Kennedy remarked that apparently a high school student worked at the CEA!
As recently as a year ago, Dick was still riding his bicycle around Cambridge. I would join his wonderful (and young!) family on weekend bike rides along the Charles River.