Bill F. Kiker

Bill F Kiker, 87, of Lexington, passed away on Friday, June 30, 2023 with his family by his side. He was born in Elkin, NC on April 21, 1936 to the late William J Kiker and Ruby Lucille Jester. Bill lived in Statesville, NC and graduated from Statesville High School in 1954. He was the starting quarterback on the football team, a middle-distance runner on the track team and a State Champion wrestler. After high school, he joined the US Army and served in Germany as an Operations and Intelligence Specialist. After active duty, he joined the Army Reserves. After the Army, Bill attended Lenoir-Rhyne College and graduated with honors in 1961. He attended graduate school in Economics at the University of SC and then graduated from Tulane University in 1965 with a PhD in Economics. After graduation, Bill accepted a position in the Department of Economics at the Darla School of Business at USC. During his long tenure at USC (1971-2006), he rose to the rank of Full Professor. He also served as a Director for the Center for Studies in Human Capital (1972-1975) and served as the Chairman of the Department of Economics (1972-1987). In 1972, Bill was honored to be awarded the Jeff B Bates Chair, which he held to near retirement. Upon retirement, he became a Distinguished Professor Emeritus. Bill held memberships in the American Economic Association and the Southern Economic Association. He received the USC Educational Foundation Research Award in 1994 for his research in an area of economics called “human capital.” One of Bill’s passions at USC was training graduate students, particularly directing PhD dissertations. He was proud of the fact that all of his PhD students published articles based on their dissertation research, and all of them were provided opportunities for employment with good career paths. Bill is survived by his loving wife of 61 years, Jane Parker Kiker; his sons Todd F Kiker (Tracy), J Brent Kiker, and D Scott Kiker (Mary); his grandchildren Kristen Kiker and William Kiker, sister Linda Hopkins (Robert); and niece Kim Cook (Edward). He was predeceased by his parents and sister, Katie Sherrill. A memorial service will be held at 11:00 am on Thursday, July 6, 2023, at Virginia Wingard United Methodist Church (1500 Broad River Road, Columbia, SC). The family will receive friends at 10:00 am at the church. If you wish to memorialize Bill, you can make contributions to Virginia Wingard UMC or Lenoir-Rhyne University.