John Lossing Buck

Who was John Lossing Buck?

John Lossing Buck was an American agricultural economist specializing in the rural economy of China. He was born in Dutchess County, New York. He graduated from Cornell University in 1914, and returned for an M.S. in 1925, and a PhD in 1933. He first went to China in 1915 as an agricultural missionary for the American Presbyterian Mission, and was based in China until 1944. In 1917, he married Pearl Sydenstricker. In 1920 they had a child, Carol Grace, and in 1925 adopted Janice. They were divorced in 1935. In 1941 he married Lomay Chang in Chengtu, China. They had two children, Rosalind, born in China, and Paul, born in the United States.

In 1918, Lossing, as he was known to his friends, and Pearl went to live in Nanhsuchou, where Lossing began his research into the Chinese farm economy using sociological tools based on statistical surveys conducted in person. Pearl, who had grown up in China, accompanied him on his initial trips through the countryside to interpret and translate. In 1920, Nanking University, a Christian institution, invited Lossing to create and head a Department of Agricultural Economics.