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Others on this list will be far more expert than I on this, 
but I can't resist offering some suggestions. 
 
One source to turn to for the first American professor of 
Political Economy or Economics -- and the exact title here 
probably does matter -- would be Joseph Dorfman's _The Economic 
Mind in American civilization, 1606-1865 -- i.e. the first 
two volumes. My quick perusal did not yield a clear answer 
on who exactaly was first in America to hold an academic chair 
specifically devoted to economics/political economy-- but there are some 
candidates for "early" econ profs. One  would be 
Francis Wayland, who was President of Brown and who according 
to Dorfman  introduced a course on the subject to Brown's curriculum 
in the late 1820's (along with a course on "Evidences of Revelation" 
though Wayland's actually professorwhip according to Dorfman was 
in Moral Philosophy. In 1837, Wayland published one of the early 
(though I don't think) first textbooks on Political Economy 
written by an American. 
 
A possible earlier candidate would be the Rev. John McVickar, 
who according to Dorfman , "was professor of the subject [i.e. 
Political Economy] at Columbia, apparently in the late teens 
adn early to mid 1820's. Though Dorfman also indicates that 
McVickar also often signed himself as "Professor of 
Moral Philosophy, etc."  -- I suppose leaving open whether 
Political Economy came under the heading of Moral Philosophy or 
of "etc."  Dorfman indicates that in the early national period, 
Political economy was "Merely a branch of moral philosophy" 
and entitled to at best a few lectures.  But as the above 
suggests there was some activity in teaching economics during 
this period in hgher education. 
 
Perhaps a more careful scrutiny of Dorfman would yield an answer 
to the question of who was the first to hold a position 
clearly designated for political economy in a U.S. college or 
university.  But part of the issue here is whether this is what 
the query is about versus who were some of the earlier teachers 
of the subject even if their position was clearly not assigned 
as such. Wayland and McVickar would seem to have been early 
teachers of political economy in prominent positions, even if 
they did not hold professorships specifically desgnated for 
political economy. 
 
 
David Mitch 
University of Maryland Baltimore County 
 
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