Dr. Victor (Vic) Lee Andrews Jr., an economist, scholar, and philanthropist, died Sunday, January 21, 2024 at Hospice Savannah, a few days after suffering a fall at his Skidaway Island home. He was 93.

He was born June 23, 1930, in Huntington, West Virginia, the only child of the late Louise and Victor Lee Andrews. Since the elder Andrews worked with the railroads, Vic’s family moved a lot during his childhood but he regarded Lorain, Ohio, where he went to high school, as his hometown. A child of the Great Depression, he got his first job after class as he entered high school. He continued to work in an almost unbroken streak for the next eight decades, and was actively involved with his investment company until his death. Along the way, he served on the faculty of some of the nation’s most prestigious universities and published extensively in the economics field, a subject for which he never lost his enthusiasm.

In the early 1950s, Vic earned a bachelor’s degree, a Master of Arts in economics and an MBA from the University of Chicago. He went on to earn a Ph.D. in industrial economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1958.

During the Korean War, he was assigned to a Strategic Intelligence Detachment in the Army Reserves – an assignment which had him spending summers in the Pentagon.

During his years at Chicago, he began dating Elaine Bernasek, years after they first met at age 15 in their mutual hometown of Lorain. They were married July 9, 1954. This was a true marriage of equals, as Elaine, too, earned advanced degrees and taught at Boston University and other campuses. The couple taught, consulted and invested together over the course of an almost 55-year marriage. Elaine died of cancer in 2009, four days shy of their wedding anniversary.

Vic became an assistant professor of finance at MIT, where he served from 1958-1961. He left there for a seven-year professorial stint in the Graduate School of Business Administration at Harvard University. In 1968, he was recruited to develop the finance department at Georgia State University in Atlanta, where he served as the Mills B. Lane Professor of Banking and Finance and Chairman, Department of Finance. He took emeritus status in 1994. In addition to his role as university professor, he taught executive education courses for a variety of high-profile banks, banking associations and corporations.

Vic was a founding member of the Financial Management Association. He was the founding editor of the peer-reviewed professional journal Financial Management from 1971-1976. He served as FMA’s president for 1978-79, and was a trustee of the association for several years. Additionally, he served as a director of Invesco Funds and of Sheffield Investment Companies, along with serving on the Editorial Advisory Board of Fund Directions, a publication serving mutual fund boards. He also frequently served as an expert witness in state and federal courts on topics ranging from ad valorem taxes to lender liability to securities. He authored multiple published articles and essays.

In the 1990s, as his university career in Atlanta was winding down, the Andrews built a home on Skidaway Island and later moved there. Their retirement was never total, as they continued to consult, lecture and operate their own firm, Andrews Financial Associates, but they took plenty of time to enjoy travel and golf. The couple rescued numerous dogs and cats, including a beagle he found abandoned on a golf course and named Bogey. They also took pleasure in researching and choosing the targets for their philanthropy.

Vic enjoyed his long life to the end. He golfed well into his late eighties.  He continued his lifelong habit of travel, and rang in the New Year at his second home in the north Georgia mountains. Throughout his latter years, he continued to maintain an active social life, with a focus on fine dining with friends and a knowledgeable appreciation of fine wines. He enjoyed watching the wildlife around his home and gathering friends to watch football on TV. 

Vic will be remembered with admiration and affection by many friends, former colleagues and past students. He will be especially missed by close personal friends Cynthia Reinholtz of the San Francisco Bay Area and Becky Cheatham of Savannah.

Graveside services will be held at Greenwich Cemetery at 2 p.m. Thursday, January 25 with the Rev. Michael White officiating. A reception will follow at Deer Creek at The Landings from 3 to 5 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Georgia Sea Turtle Center, 901 Downing Musgrove Causeway, Jekyll Island, GA 31527 (jekyllislandfoundation.org) or the Dr. Victor L. Andrews Fund at Savannah Country Day School, 824 Stillwood Drive, Savannah, GA 31419 (savcds.org).