Bernard (Bud) Udis, PhD
July 18, 1927-August 21, 2018
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Bernard Udis died on August 21, 2018, in Albuquerque New Mexico at the age of 91. Bud was born in 1927, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Lena and Morris Udis.听 Bud attended Penn State University where he not only experienced the academic and socially expanding world of college, but also found opportunities to take a stand in support of civil rights. His participation in an organized protest of a segregated barber shop foreshadowed his interest in labor economics.听
Bud served stateside in the army during World War II. After discharge from the military, he completed his undergraduate studies and married his first wife, Clare Udis. Excelling in academics, he earned a master鈥檚 at the University of Pennsylvania and a Ph.D. at Princeton University.听
Bud accepted several academic appointments in economics at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, the University of Pittsburgh, the University of New Mexico and finally, at the University of Colorado at Boulder where he spent most of his career as a tenured professor teaching, mentoring, publishing and as director of the Bureau of Economic Research. 听
Bud鈥檚 academic interests and expertise took him to other areas of applied economics, particularly defense economics.听 He traveled as an Economics consultant through 鈥淐heckpoint Charlie鈥� into East Berlin during the 鈥渄etente鈥� years for the SALT and START arms control and reduction talks.听 He maintained a peace through strength political view during the Cold War years. Bud鈥檚 research travels took him to many European countries within and outside the NATO alliance. He was particularly interested in government and private sector relationships.听
Bud spent a year as a distinguished visiting professor at the Air Force Academy and with the State Department in Washington DC. He collaborated with colleagues from the academic and defense worlds to publish many peer-reviewed articles and two books.听 听
Bud expressed his artistic side as a regular performer with a Boulder acting troupe, The Nomad Players.听 He enjoyed tackling key roles in plays such as Moliere鈥檚 Tartuffe and Beckett鈥檚 Endgame. Bud was also a two-octave baritone performing with choral groups in Boulder and later in Albuquerque.
Upon his retirement from the University of Colorado. Bud returned to New Mexico where he and his second wife, Margaret G. Williams, built a beautiful home together in the East Mountains between Albuquerque and Santa Fe.听 He also continued his work as a defense economics consultant, conference presenter and contributor at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA.听
Bud was a man with a strong private faith in God. He is survived by his wife, Margaret, his first wife, Clare, his children, Laura and Kevin (Victoria), step-children, Leah and Lisa (Gene), his grandson, Jeremy and numerous step-grandchildren. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to a charity of your choice, or the University of Colorado Economics Department.听