Dale T Mortensen

Economist whose pioneering work on labor markets won a Nobel and helped governments and policy makers better understand the stubborn complexities of unemployment. Dale Thomas Mortensen was born on Feb. 2, 1939, in Enterprise, Ore. His father, a Danish immigrant, was a forest ranger, and Dale developed a love of the outdoors as a child that continued through his final days, his son said. He graduated from Willamette University in Salem, Ore., with a bachelor of science degree in economics, and earned his Ph.D. from Carnegie Mellon. He joined the Northwestern faculty in 1965 and stayed at the university for his entire career except for a stint as a visiting professor at a university in Denmark. n addition to his son Karl, Professor Mortensen is survived by his wife of 50 years, Beverly, a religion scholar on the Northwestern faculty; two daughters, Lia DuBarry Mortensen and Julie Mortensen Glanville; eight grandchildren; and two brothers, Arne and Irving.