Chipola graduation speaker found his calling at an early age

By Kate McCardell

Published: May 1, 2008

A well-known Marianna native delivered the address to the Class of 2008 at Chipola College’s commencement Thursday night.
Dr. Malcom Gillis, whose expertise relates mostly to fiscal economics and environmental policy, planned to “talk about the world as it is now and the world they may see in 20 years.”
His commencement address was “Making a Life, Making a Living in a Fast-changing World.”
About 370 Chipola graduates made up the class of 2008. The ceremony began at 7 p.m., in the Milton H. Johnson Health Center. Parents, relatives and friends were invited to a reception immediately following the ceremony.
Gillis also will speak this morning at the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce’s First Friday Power Breakfast. “The Perfect Storm: The Credit Crunch of 2007-2009” is the title of his chamber presentation.
While most would say his long and successful career is priceless, Gillis found his calling in the sum of $122.62.
“I was at the University of Florida planning on majoring in biology. I was a self-supporting student and I got a letter from the IRS saying I owed $122.62,” explained Gillis. “Here I am, an 18-year-old kid hearing from the IRS that I had to show up for a hearing. So I called my grandma and cashed the only asset I had to pay the bill.”
Gillis later found out that the IRS was mistaken, but it would not return his money.
“I was taking a course on economics at the time and I thought, ‘I’m gonna learn something about this and I’m gonna give them a pay back. So I got into economics and found it very interesting,” said Gillis.
The next 40 years, he said, he spent time at Harvard and Duke universities, showing young economics professors how to minimize payments to the IRS.
It’s a humble way of summing up a stellar career.

Where it began and where it went

It began at Chipola College in 1960, the year he graduated from the school with an A.A. degree.
He received his B.S. and M.A. degrees from the University of Florida, and his Ph.D from the University of Illinois.
He spent the first 25 years of his professional life teaching economics. His first faculty post was as an assistant professor of economics at Duke University, followed by a 15-year stint at Harvard University. He returned to Duke in 1984 as a professor of economics and public policy, was awarded a distinguished named chair, became dean of the graduate school and vice provost for academic affairs, and then dean of the faculty of arts and sciences.
He currently serves as the Ervin Kenneth Zingler Professor of Economics at Rice University, where he served as president from 1993 through 2004.
Gillis has published over 70 journal and book articles.  He is author, co-author, or editor of eight books, including the 1988 publication, “Public Policies and the Misuse of Forest Resources, Tax Reform in Developing Countries,” and the leading textbook in the field, “Economics of Development (5th edition, 2002),” which is now available in five languages.
He was also co-founder and chair of the Board of Trustees of the Center for World Environment and Sustainable Development, and was also co-founder of the Duke Center for Tropical Conservation.

Hometown support

Gillis said he owes much of his achievement to the community in which he was raised.
“I had a wide circle of friends in Marianna. I was very close to all 100 in my graduating class at Marianna High School. I was class president,” said Gillis.
“Of that 100, about 81 are still alive and I miss all the ones who have gone on. I’ve always considered that my growing up in Marianna was an integral part in my later life, in terms of preparedness, because of all the support I had from all of my friends and close relatives,” said Gillis.
He noted that the St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Marianna played a major role in his maturation as a young man.
He said his grandmother raised him on West Lafayette Street. When he attended Chipola College, he also supported himself with two jobs, one at Daffin Mercantile and the other at Farmers Trading Post.
“I was grateful for the opportunity to be able to work my way through college. Very fortunate, because Chipola was within walking distance from my grandma’s house and so was Daffin’s and the trading post.
“Basically, it was extremely fruitful and a pleasant part of my life. I always take great comfort in the fact that I was from Marianna and Jackson County,” said Gillis.