Lasting Memories

James C. Van Horne
Aug. 6, 1935-Sept. 1, 2025
Palo Alto, California

James C. Van Horne, a long-time resident of Palo Alto and professor at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, died at Stanford Hospital on Monday, September 1st at the age of 90.

Jim led an amazing and very fulfilling life. His love of family – his wife Mimi, three sons, and seven grandchildren – allowed for many wonderful times together.

Jim was born on August 6, 1935 in South Bend, Indiana, the only child of Ralph and Helen McCarter Van Horne. His early years were spent in South Bend where he attended public schools, graduating from John Adams High School in 1953. He went on to DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana where he majored in economics and philosophy. Throughout his life he was devoted to DePauw, attending reunions, receiving an honorary doctorate, and serving on its Board of Trustees in the 1990s. After graduation from college, Jim served in the U.S. Army and then worked for the Continental Illinois National Bank of Chicago as a commercial lending representative. During this time in Chicago, he met his wife and lifetime companion, Mimi, and they were married in 1960. While working at the bank, Jim pursued an MBA degree at Northwestern University's evening division, which he finished in 1961. One year later, he entered Northwestern's Ph.D. program in finance and economics. Receiving his Ph.D. in 1964, he taught for one year at Michigan State University.

Jim and Mimi moved to Palo Alto when Jim became an assistant professor of finance at Stanford's Graduate School of Business in 1965. This was the beginning of 42 years of teaching and research at what he always regarded as a remarkable institution. During this time, he published three leading textbooks and many articles in finance, economic, and management journals. He also served as Director of the MBA program and as an academic dean under the legendary dean, Arjay Miller, with whom he was a close friend. In the mid-1970s he took leave to go to Washington, DC as a deputy assistant secretary of the Treasury. Returning to Stanford, he continued to serve in the administration of the GSB until 1980, when he returned to full-time teaching.

Jim’s greatest satisfaction at Stanford was in teaching and engaging with some 7,000 students over the years, a number with whom he maintained close contact after their graduation. The winner of several teaching awards, his courses were in high demand up to the time of his retirement in 2007. He touched the lives and careers of many students. In addition to being involved with teaching finance and monetary economics, Jim served on a handful of corporate boards and four non-profit boards. Professionally, he was president of the American Finance Association and president of the Western Finance Association in the 1980s, and associate editor of several finance journals.

In addition to being in the company of family and friends, Jim enjoyed travel, hiking, cross-country skiing, symphony performances, and Stanford sports. Stimulation came as well from social interactions at the Palo Alto Club and the Palo Alto/University Rotary Club, where he had many friends. He was a member of the First United Methodist Church of Palo Alto and served on several of its committees as well as on the board of the California/Nevada United Methodist Foundation.

Jim is survived by his wife of 65 years, Mimi; three sons, Drew (Cindy), Stuart (Yoomi), and Steve (Elise Maar); and seven grandchildren, Jamie Chapman (Kevin), Daniel, Kelsey, Sarah, Noah, Charlotte, and Jessica, to whom he was much devoted and from whom he derived enormous satisfaction. Family was the most important thing to Jim.