Roger Sherman

Roger Sherman

Roger Sherman, emeritus professor of economics at the University of Virginia and the University of Houston, died on Thursday, February 18, 2010, after a short illness.

Roger was a noted scholar in the fields of market regulation, anti-trust, and industrial organization. In addition to teaching at Virginia and Houston, he was a visiting professor at several foreign universities, and an advisor to many state and federal agencies.

Born in 1930, Roger served as a naval officer from 1952 until 1956, and earned an M.B.A. from Harvard University in 1959. In 1966, he graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a Ph.D. in economics. Roger taught at the University of Virginia from 1965 until 2000. He was chair of the economics department from 1982 until 1990 and was the Brown-Forman Professor of Economics from 1982 until he retired. As department chair, he supported the early use of computer technology in economic research. Roger joined the economics department at the University of Houston and taught there until he retired once again in 2007. He subsequently continued to teach, most recently at Virginia Commonwealth University in 2008.

Over his long career, Roger wrote several books and numerous scholarly articles published in academic journals. Among other accomplishments, he was noted for testing economic principles through experimental methodology. His most recent book, Market Regulation, published in 2008, is one of the leading textbooks in the field.

An advisor to state and federal agencies, he worked with the Civil Service Commission, the Council of Economic Advisors, the United States Postal Rate Commission, and the Federal Trade Commission, among others.

Roger was a 1972 Fulbright Scholar at the Autonomous University of Madrid, a 1985 Rockefeller Foundation Scholar in Bellagio, Italy, and a visiting professor at several universities in the United States, England, France, Australia, and Germany. Roger served on the editorial boards of many economic journals and was president of the Southern Economic Association from 1999 until 2000.

Roger took great pleasure in following the careers of former undergraduate and graduate students, many of whom now follow him as professors of economics at universities in the United States and abroad. He was an avid boater and cruised the Intracoastal Waterway from Virginia to the Florida Keyes and the Bahamas in 2009. Throughout his life, he delighted family and friends with his sketches and watercolors.

Roger was preceded in death by his parents; a brother, Claire; and a son, Thomas.

He is survived by his wife, Geraldine Szott Moohr; a son, Randall; and his former wife, Charlotte.

A memorial gathering will be held from 5 until 7 p.m. Friday, April 9, 2010, in Monroe Hall, Room 120, at the University of Virginia.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Andrew and Abby Szott Foundation, P.O. Box 211658, Eagan, Minnesota, 55723 www.szottfoundation.org, a charity that Roger generously supported.


This obituary was originally published in the Daily Progress.