Marc Nerlove

Marc Leon Nerlove

October 12, 1933-July 10, 2024.

Marc Leon Nerlove of Wilmette, Illinois, died on July 10, 2024 after a brief stay at the Skokie

hospital, near his childhood home of Chicago-Hyde Park. He was surrounded by his loving

family.

Marc’s parents were Samuel H. (SH) and Evelyn A. Nerlove. He was the oldest of three children

and was a devoted older brother to his sisters Harriet and Sara.

Marc was raised in a home of intellectual learning and inquiry. His father SH was a professor of

economics at the University of Chicago and as a young boy, Marc attended the University of

Chicago Laboratory School and was intrigued by dinner table talk about farming in the Midwest.

In addition to teaching finance at the University of Chicago, SH served as a trustee of a large

bankrupt Midwestern life insurance which held mostly foreclosed Midwest farm mortgages. SH

would visit farms in order to help farm owners and keep rents flowing. After returning home

from his visits he would often detail the plight of these farmers who were severely affected by

the Great Depression. Marc’s mother Evelyn taught at the University of Chicago School of Social

Service Administration and did psychiatric casework at the University Hospital.

Marc became well-versed in business, finance, psychology, sociology and music, and held a

special fondness for physics, mathematics, and game theory but eventually pursued economics.

He earned a BA at the University of Chicago in 1952 and his Ph.D from Johns Hopkins in

Baltimore in 1956. His dissertation explored the dynamics of agricultural supply, estimating

farmers responses to prices.

Several generations of national and international economists were influenced by Marc. His

distinguished teaching career of more than 50 years included appointments at the University of

Minnesota, Stanford University, Yale University, the University of Chicago, Northwestern

University, University of Pennsylvania and the University of Maryland where he served until

2016.

During his career, Marc’s scholarly achievements in a wide range of economic areas earned him

numerous honors and awards, including the John Bates Clark Medal in 1969, given to the

American economist under the age of 40 judged to have made the most significant contribution

to the field. He was also made a member of the National Academy of Sciences, a Fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a Fellow and past President of the Econometric

Society, a Fellow of the American Statistical Association, and a Fellow of the American

Agricultural Economics Association (now the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).

Marc was recognized as a Distinguished Fellow of the American Economic Association in 2012,

celebrating his outstanding contributions to the field and cementing his legacy as a luminary in

the field of economics. He was awarded honorary professorships from the Universities of

Mannheim (Germany) and Geneva (Switzerland).

In addition to research and teaching, Marc enjoyed languages (Dutch, German, Portuguese,

Spanish, French and Italian, and even studied Swedish and Hungarian) and international travel,

music (especially JS Bach) and books, one of his favorites being Alice in Wonderland. During his

final years, his failing vision made reading difficult, but his family indulged him in this passion.

They would read and he would teach...

Marc is survived by his beloved wife of 34 years Anke Meyer, and his younger sister Sara Nerlove

Walters (Anthony) of Safety Harbor, Florida, daughters Susan Nerlove (Joe Naccache) of Skokie,

Illinois, and Miriam Nerlove (Howard Tushman) of Wilmette, Illinois. He was a devoted

grandfather of Eleanor Miz (Alec) of Wilmette, Hannah Herzer (Johannes) of Berlin, David

Naccache (Sarah Parker) of Chicago, Michael Naccache (Elisa Epstein) of Chicago and great

grandfather to Madeleine and Barrett Miz and Grey and Sienna Herzer. He was predeceased by

his sister, the late Harriet Nerlove Mischel of Portland, Oregon, and his first wife Mary Ellen

Nerlove of Deerfield, Illinois.

Donations in honor of Marc Nerlove may be given to the Equal Justice Initiative or Doctors

Without Borders. Date, time and location for a memorial service in celebration of Marc’s life

will be announced.

Arrangements entrusted to Chicagoland Cremation Options of Schiller Park, IL