Martin Bronfenbrenner's writings reflect an exceptional diversity of interests, with contributions in areas ranging from income distribution theory, monetary economics, fiscal economics, business-cycle theory, imperfect competition, labor economics and theory, on the one hand, to economic development, Marxian economics, comparative economic systems, history of economic thought, international economics, and Japanese economics on the other. In today's world of specialization, Martin Bronfenbrenner towered over the discipline as a member of a fast-disappearing class of generalists.

Bronfenbrenner received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1939, and held academic appointments at Wisconsin, Michigan State, Minnesota, Carnegie Mellon, Aoyoma Gakuin, and Duke (where he was Kenan Professor of Economics until his "retirement" in l984).

Upon his return from Aoyoma Gakuin University in Japan in 1991, until his death in l997, he taught one course each semester in the Department. Truly a master teacher, over his career his classes were always challenging, entertaining (laced with witticisms, jibes, and sometimes bold speculation) and usually exciting, to say the least. As his colleague, Professor Allen Kelley put it, "He was an enemy of dismal views and dismal presentations of the dismal science." His "reputation" (translated high standards) resulted in a self-selection of students prepared to tackle a demanding intellectual experience that taxed their abilities. He goaded under-performers in one of two directions: toward their potential intellectual development, or toward the door. It was a foolish student who came to class unprepared.

Martin Bronfenbrenner was a visible member of the Duke Faculty and the Durham community, in substantial part the result of his frequent letters to the student newspaper, The Chronicle, and The Durham Herald-Sun. His flair for writing on complex economic ideas and topics in a way that was intuitive and accessible reflected a rare talent amongst professional economists. The themes of these numerous writings in the popular press were predictably wide ranging in scope, controversial, and frequently crafted in a confrontational style that provoked vigorous exchange and response. Above all, he was a scholar beyond measure whose tireless pursuit of knowledge characterized his enormously successful career. Professor Anne Krueger (a colleague of Bronfenbrenner at both Minnesota and Duke), in her Martin Bronfenbrenner Memorial Lecture at Duke on December 5, 1997, described him as "probably the most intellectually curious person I have ever known. If the ideal of the university is to question everything, and to use reason to address it, no one I have ever known has come closer to that ideal."

Additional information on Martin Bronfenbrenner's rich life and contributions can be found in the following. Some of the listed items are available below, others are being prepared, and still others can be found in published volumes (citations provided).