In Memoriam - James Hart

Dr. James Austin Hart formerly of Highland Park.

Services for James Austin Hart will be held at 10:30 am. Saturday, at St. Mary's Cemetery in Highland Park. A memorial open house will be held from noon to 3 pm Saturday, at Marriott's Lincolnshire Resort. A funeral Mass was celebrated Oct. 14, 2003, at St. Jude's Catholic Church in Tequesta, Fla.

Born Oct. 20, 1914, the first born child of James and Anna Hart of Des Moines, Iowa, he passed away Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2003, in Jupiter Fla.  Dr. Hart's boyhood was spent in Des Moines, Iowa, where he attended St. Ambrose Parish School and Dowling High School.  His summers were spent at Late Okoboji, Iowa. A star athlete in high school, Jim was offered a scholarship to play football at the University of Notre Dame in 1934. After a single season under legendary Irish coach Hunk Anderson, Jim decided to build his future on his brains rather than his brawn, and transferred to Fordham University, where he eventually earned his bachelor of science degree, master of arts degree and PhD degree, in economics.

Dr. Hart took his first leaching position at Manhattan College and joined the faculty of DePaul University in 1938. He returned to Fordham as a professor in 1940. In 1942, he served as a member of the Atlanta War labor Board and in 1943, he entered the Navy, where, he served as a legal officer. During this time. Dr. Hart completed a law degree at Georgetown University. After the war. Dr. Hart worked briefly for the Bureau of Labor Statistics before accepting a position as an economics professor at Creighton University, moving his family to Omaha, Neb. and later to Council Bluffs, Iowa.

Dr. Hart's years on the Creighton faculty were eventful ones. He took the bar exam in both Nebraska and Iowa and began a law practice in Omaha. Besides teaching, practicing law and raising a family, Dr. Hart pursued political office, running as a Democrat for Congress in 1950,1952 and 1954. In 1955, Dr. Hart left Creighton to take the deanship of the School of Business at Seton Hall University in South Orange, N.J.  He remained at Seton Hall for two years before rejoining the faculty of Fordham University for one year as chairman of the Department of Management.

In 1958, Dr. Hart accepted the deanship at DePaul University's College of Commerce and he moved his family to Highland Park, where they lived for the next 23 years. Dr. Hart was dean from 1958 to 1971 and from 1978 to 1980 and taught finance in the intervening years.  As dean, Dr. Hart was instrumental in making DePaul's College of Commerce a leader in international studies. In 1962, DePaul became one of the first schools in the country to offer an MBA in international business, beating out Harvard University by one year.

Under Hart's direction the school offered a series of seminars on doing business in countries such as Japan, Germany, France and Spain.  In 1970, Dr. Hart began the University's innovative London Summer Program where students spent five weeks studying leading British business institutions and governmental agencies. This program continues to this day, having broadened to include a variety of countries.

During his years at DePaul, Dr. Hart also served on the Board of Directors for the Arthur J. Schmidt Foundation, a leading benefactor of Catholic universities in the area. The Schmidt Foundation helped fund the development of DePaul's Lincoln Park campus. DePaul's commitment to the area was key to the revitalization of the Lincoln Park neighborhood. Dr. Hart also served on the boards of the First Commercial Bank, the Chicago Council of Foreign Relations and the Chicago International Trade club. He served as president of the Catholic Economic Association and the Academy of International Business.

During his years in Chicago, Dr. Hart developed a thriving international legal practice representing American clients doing business abroad.  Dr. Hart's practice took him to Venezuela, Bolivia, Switzerland, the Vatican, Belgium, Holland and Austria. However, Germany was the country in which Dr. Hart's expertise was recognized by local and national newspapers, which published articles he wrote and frequently sought his opinions on international business issues.

At the end of his second deanship, Dr. Hart returned to the faculty of the Department of Finance, but soon became tired of Chicago's winters. In 1981, he and his wife moved to Tampa where he joined the faculty of the University of South Florida. In 1982, they moved to San Diego, where Dr. Hart was on the faculty of United States International University and the University of San Diego. He retired from teaching in 1986 to concentrate on writing and the practice of law. He coauthored US Business and Today's Germany with Dieter Schultze-Zest which was published in 1995. In January of 2003, Dr. Hart and his wife moved to Jupiter, Fla.

Of all his accomplishments, he valued none higher than winning the heart and hand of Marie Kelleher of Fort Dodge, Iowa, They were married in 1939 and she was his partner and loving companion for 64 years. Together they raised nine children, James F. (Joyce) Hart of Evanston. Elizabeth (Frank) Zera of Lake Zurich, Maureen (Geoffrey) Gray of Jupiter, Fla, Denise Hart of Portland, Oregon, Patrick (Nancy) Hart of Libertyville, Laurence (Karen) Hart of Chula Vista, Calif, Margaret Hart of Los Angeles, Daniel Hart of Columbia. Ky. and Vincent (Theresa) Hart of Mount Prospect.  He is also survived by his 15grandchildren and 3 great-grandchild.  He will be greatly missed and his energy, his humor and his integrity will be treasured by his family and many friends around the world.

Memorials may be made to the St. Vincent DePaul Center, 2145 N. Halsted. Chicago, IL 60614. Friends may visit www.dailyherald

Daily Herald, October 28, 2003, pg. 8