April 15, 2016
Esmael Adibi, a professor of economics at Chapman University in Orange County, California, who was noted for his ability to convey complex economic concepts in clear and simple—and humorous—English, died from complications of a stroke last Friday. He was 63.
Adibi held the A. Gary Anderson Chair in Economic Analysis and directed the A. Gary Anderson Center for Economic Research at the school.
For 38 years, he delivered Chapman University Economic Forecasts with Jim Doti, a fellow economist who is now the university’s president.
“I’ve lost my closest friend and Chapman has lost one of its brightest stars,” said Doti.
Those yearly forecasts were eagerly awaited by businesses owners, homebuyers and consumers throughout California. They were also noted for being laced with humor.
“He was a full-time entertainer and a part-time economist,” his son, Keeya Adibi, 28, said Saturday with a laugh.
Keeya Adibi remembered helping his father prepare the economic presentation. Esmael Adibi ran through his jokes with his son, making sure they were actually funny.
Keeya Adibi pronounced the jokes too cheesy.
But they were always a hit with the audience. “I had to sit there with a sock in my mouth because everybody was laughing,” Keeya said.
Lucy Dunn, president of the Orange County Business Council, remembered Adibi as “approachable and accessible.”
“Folks relied on him for accurate information as well as free market economic principles,” Dunn said. “His sense of humor and genuine affection through.”
Adibi came to Chapman in April 1974, freshly graduated from Tehran University. He flew 7,600 miles at a friend’s urging to attend a tiny college he knew next to nothing about.
Adibi arrived at Los Angeles International Airport with a single suitcase, barely managed to avoid boarding the Disneyland bus, and took a taxi to Chapman.
“And then,” Adibi recalled in a 2010 interview, “I realized they didn’t have a graduate degree in economics.”
No matter. He earned an MBA from Chapman while studying for his master’s in economics at Cal State Fullerton and later a Ph.D. from Claremont Graduate University.
He worked his way through school at the Knowlwood restaurant in Fullerton, starting by peeling onions and ending as a manager.
Adibi had come to California with a plan: He was going to get a doctorate, then return to Iran and become a researcher in the Central Bank, one of a handful of Ph.D.s helping set economic policy. But then came the revolution.
The annual economic forecasts began as a class project at Chapman in 1977, when Adibi was an MBA student. He joined the economics faculty in 1978 and the first public forecast was presented that year.
Colleagues noted Adibi’s scholarship and his ability to explain arcane elements of economics to students and the public.
“Essie Adibi had an amazing intellect and an unparalleled ability to describe the most complex economic concepts,” said Reginald Gilyard, dean of Chapman’s business school.
Adibi is survived by his wife Jila, a son and daughter, and two grandchildren.
