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NBER: Very sad news...
Dear EEE members:
As you may have heard, the very sad news is that Wally Oates has died. Further information is in emails and an obituary below. I’ll just note here my personal sense of loss. Wally was already a full professor at Princeton when I arrived there in 1978, where I thought of him as a “very big name” in my field (public economics). I was glad to get to know him while we overlapped until his departure for Maryland. Later when I switched into environmental economics, I discovered again that Wally Oates was also a “very big name” in that field. He was always very approachable and helpful, however, and I not only learned a lot from him but enjoyed being with him. We will miss him.
Thanks, Don
From: Cropper, Maureen
Sent: Saturday, October 31, 2015 9:36 AM
Subject: University Fellow Wally Oates Has Died
Molly,
I write with sad news. Wally Oates died yesterday . I am attaching the obituary that my assistant, Angie Harmon, wrote. We will post it on the department's website. I have also copied below a more personal note that John Wallis just circulated to the faculty, which explains the circumstances of Wally's death.
Please feel free to use either (or both) to let the RFF family know of this sad event.
With best wishes,
Maureen
Dear Friends:
With real sadness I write to let everyone know that Wally Oates passed away yesterday afternoon. Wally suffered from a progressively debilitating lung condition, and in the end he simply couldn’t get enough oxygen without heroic assistance. He was comfortable. All of his children had a chance to visit this week. His wife, Grace Mary, is home and she is doing well, considering the circumstances.
Wally came to Maryland from Princeton in 1979 and was an important member of the department until his retirement in 2012, when he became an emeritus professor. Wally made fundamental contributions to both public finance and environmental economics. His book, Fiscal Federalism is still widely read and set the research agenda for generations of scholars who study federal political systems. He was the first economist to show that the effect of government policies can be capitalized in property values.
Although his contributions as an economist were enormous, it is as a person that Wally will be missed most. As Judy Hellerstein said to me this week, the ratio of his accomplishments to his sense of self-importance was larger for Wally than anyone else she knew. Wally was so comfortable with who he was that he could be and always was genuinely concerned with who you were. He was a marvelous colleague, co-author, and thesis advisor. A legion of former students love Wally, for good reason.
Wally asked to be buried on Grace Mary’s family farm in Texas, so there will not be an immediate service here in Maryland. When details about the memorial service are set we will let everyone know.
Sadly,
John
Distinguished University Professor Emeritus Wallace Oates Has Died
Distinguished University Professor Emeritus Wallace E. Oates died on October 30, 2015. Wally had a brilliant career at the University of Maryland, spanning over 35 years.
Wally received his Ph.D. from Stanford in 1965 and spent 14 years on the faculty at Princeton University before coming to Maryland in 1979 in what was called “one of the luckiest breaks the department has ever had.”
A scholar of international significance, Wally produced a body of work equal to the very best in the profession. He changed both public policy and the course of economics. A prolific and influential researcher, Wally authored 6 books, edited 9 volumes and wrote nearly 100 papers. He had an enormous impact on both public and environmental economics. His first book, Fiscal Federalism, published in 1972, continues to define the research agenda of local public economics to this day, and his book with William Baumol, The Theory of Environmental Policy, made environmental economics a core part of economics; it has, arguably, been the single most influential work in this field.
Wally received many accolades recognizing the significance of his contributions to economics. He was the recipient of a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship, a Senior Fulbright-Hays Scholar at the London School of Economics, a University Fellow at Resources for the Future and one of the first Fellows of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists. In 1997, he was elected to the Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters; in 2000 given an honorary Ph.D. from St. Gallen University in Switzerland. He received the Daniel M. Holland Medal from the National Tax Association in 2002.
Always a superb teacher and advisor, Wally produced students who would shape the direction of local and public finance for decades. He won innumerable teaching awards and was a highly sought-after dissertation advisor. His advisees include tenured faculty members at many universities and colleges, including Dartmouth College, Tulane University, the University of Texas, Rice University, and Texas A&M University, while others have risen to prominent positions in public agencies including the Environmental Protection Agency and the Federal Trade Commission.
Wally also had the rare distinction of being awarded two of the University’s highest honors; in 2006, he received the University of Maryland’s Distinguished Scholar-Teacher Award, and in 2009 was named a Distinguished University Professor.
Wally was a superb economist and a great human being. He will be greatly missed by his colleagues, students, and friends.
Received on Sat Oct 31 2015 - 16:27:49 EDT
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