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Edward J. Kane

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Boston College Ohio State University

Edward Kane Obituary

Name: Service for Edward J. Kane
Start: 2023-03-13T17:30:00.000Z
Location: St. Thomas the apostle Catholic Church

Kane

Edward J. Kane

6/30/1935 - 3/2/2023

Edward J. Kane, an economist specializing in banking and financial regulation, died on March 2, 2023 in Tucson, AZ. He was born and raised in Washington, DC where he met his wife of 54 years, Gloria Verdi.

The highly-cited author of three books and hundreds of academic articles was one of the few economists to foresee the S&L debacle of the 1980s. Dr. Kane was a man of diverse interests. Inspired by comic books and horror movies, he introduced the now-ubiquitous term Zombie Bank to the lexicon of financial writing.

Professor Kane earned a BS from Georgetown and a Ph.D. from MIT. He taught at Princeton, Iowa State and Boston College before accepting the Everett D. Reese Chair of Banking and Monetary Economics at the Ohio State University, which he held from 1972 to 1992. In 1992, he returned to Boston College to serve as the first James F. Cleary Professor in Finance until 2009.

Kane is a past president and fellow of the American Finance Association, a Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research. A founding member of the Shadow Financial Regulatory Committee, he also served for twelve years as a Trustee and member of the Finance Committee of TIAA CREF, consulted for the World Bank and was a Senior Fellow in the FDIC's Center for Financial Research. Much of his recent work was produced with the support of the Institute for New Economic Thinking.

Edward is survived by his children, Laura, Stephen (Rui) and Ted (Christy), and granddaughter Rachel (Jackson) Ruck. He is also survived by his brother Dick (Linda) and sister Mary.

Services will be held at 10:30 a.m. on March 13, 2023, at St. Thomas the apostle Catholic Church, 5150 N. Valley View Rd., Tucson, AZ.

To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.

Published by The Washington Post on Mar. 7, 2023.

Memories and Condolences
for Edward Kane

23 Entries

Larry Kantor

February 27, 2025

In honor of the one-year anniversary of his passing, I'd like to add another anecdote. Professor Kane was my PhD dissertation advisor at Ohio State. As I discussed in my guest book submission last year, after a year during which I continued to research my topic, Professor Kane refused to speak to me until I turned in a chapter. I was upset about this at the time, but I'm not sure I would have completed my PhD otherwise.
When I handed in my dissertation proposal, it was returned with so much red ink that I could barely read the comments. Many if not most of the comments were grammatical. I responded that I was getting a PhD in Economics, not English. Ed replied that he would not approve my dissertation if it wasn't written properly. By the time I handed in my final chapter, there were no grammatical corrections. The ability to write clearly and concisely served me very well throughout my career, and I have Professor Kane to thank for that. This also shows how much Professor Kane cared about his students. The process was hard on me, but it was also very time consuming for Ed.
Just a few years ago, I wrote him a note thanking him for these tough lessons. He replied as follows: "I appreciate your many compliments. I remember your initial "disappointment" in how I handled the first draft of your dissertation efforts. It is funny that foreign students usually took my interest in improving their writing skills better than most native speakers. It was not hard to convince them that writing ability was almost as valuable as content in getting one's work published, at least in our profession."

Basak Tanyeri Günsür

December 19, 2024

Ed was a very thoughtful mentor to all his students. As the holiday season nears, I remember his Annual Wine Tasting event at the Karoon Restaurant in Newton. Every year late fall as the holiday season neared; he invited all the graduate students to a Wine Tasting event at the Karoon Restaurant. For me and for many international graduate students, this was the highlight of the holiday season. Thank you Ed for the wonderful memories.

Tung-Hao Lee

December 6, 2024

Dear Professor Kane, you are the professor that I learned most when I was in the States. Thank you for your teaching and miss you forever.

Diane Silikowski

April 22, 2023

What a wonderful professor Dr. Kane was. An inspiring individual. I was a student of his in the 1980´s; we connected again in the early 2000´s. I made a few comments about his research; lo and behold, a few months later I was mentioned in his footnotes for my "contribution ". He was a many of high integrity and is a great loss to this world

Masaaki Yoshimori

Planted Trees

Masaaki Yoshimori

March 15, 2023

Please accept my sincere condolences.
Prof. Ed is a national treasure. The cartons in his PowerPoint are memorable, and I recall I had a good memory in Tucson, AZ.

Varouj Aivazian

March 12, 2023

I was fortunate to have Ed as my PhD supervisor at Ohio State University in the 1970s. Ed was an excellent teacher, advisor, and mentor. He cared deeply about his students. Ed was a great economist and a wonderful human being. My deep condolences to his family.
Varouj Aivazian

CIPE Communications Team

Planted Trees

Mark and Amy Ruck

Planted Trees

Min-Teh Yu and Hwei-Lin Chuang

March 10, 2023

We treasure the precious moments with Ed and Gloria and the inspirations of their life-sharing.

Min-Teh Yu and Hwei-Lin Chuang

Sent Flowers

Basak Tanyeri Günsür

March 10, 2023

I was privileged to be his student. He was a kind and wonderful person. Laura and Ed welcomed me to their home and I am grateful for the memories. He led by example. His devotion to research and his students is my constant inspiration.

Lin Guo

March 9, 2023

Eternal Affection Arrangement- BASKET INCLUDED

TF, RJ, and INET

Sent Flowers

Larry Kantor

March 9, 2023

Ed Kane was my PhD dissertation advisor at Ohio State. He set very high standards and the process was brutal at times. But it turned out to be well worth it. I not only learned to produce original and publishable economic research, but also how to write clearly and concisely, which served me well throughout my career. When my progress stalled, Ed refused to communicate with me until I handed in a chapter. This annoyed me at the time, but I don't think I would have completed my dissertation if he hadn't done that. All of that would have been more than enough, but Ed was someone who stuck with his students long after they graduated. He served as a mentor throughout my career, and I would not have been nearly as successful were it not for his advice and recommendations.
Ed will be remembered as an outstanding economist, who published many important articles and books. He is probably most noteworthy for his early warnings of the impending failures of thousands of S&Ls, long before it became a national crisis. But Ed Kane was much more than that. He was an outstanding teacher and mentor who made an extraordinary effort on behalf of the welfare of his students. I will miss him dearly, and I'm sure his many students feel the same way.
Larry Kantor, PhD

Ramon P. DeGennaro

Planted Trees

Lin Guo

March 8, 2023

Ed has touched so many lives with his wisdom, integrity, humor and generosity. He will be dearly missed.

Tony Verdi

Sent Flowers

Ramon DeGennaro

March 6, 2023

The highest tribute to the dead is not grief but gratitude.
-- Thornton Wilder

Haluk Unal

March 6, 2023

I will miss you dearly. You were a great mentor, friend, and a gentleman. Your teachings will live through your students and their students and so on. Once you said your students are your kids and their students are your grandkids. That's how you viewed them. I am so fortunate to have met you in life. Thank you Ed for all you have taught and your friendship. Condolences to the family and the profession.