Abstract
The American Economist remembers Professor of Economics, Dr. Sharmila Vishwasrao, for her distinguished service to our journal as an Associate Editor since 2015, managing submissions on international technology transfer, intellectual property rights, international factor movements, and health economics.
Professor Sharmila Vishwasrao passed away on August 6, 2022, from breast cancer, at age 55. Dr. Vishwasrao received her undergraduate degree from St. Xavier’s College (Mumbai) and earned her M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in economics from Purdue University. For more than 25 years, she taught economics at Florida Atlantic University, reaching the rank of Full Professor and becoming a distinguished member of the faculty. Her academic work is published in highly regarded journals such as Journal of Development Economics, Journal of Banking and Finance, and Applied Economics. Most importantly, Professor Vishwasrao was a wonderful and loved daughter, sister, mother, wife, colleague, and friend.
I truly enjoyed working with and learning from Sharmila during my short tenure as Editor-in-Chief of The American Economist. Dr. Vishwasrao was committed to supporting our efforts, and those of our academic community, until she was not able to physically do so; in fact, our last email communication took place on July 12th, 2022. In that email, Sharmila shared that it was fun while it lasted, and I know that is how she felt about the way she was able to live her life. Her “fun” was contagious, and she will be dearly missed by everyone who knew her and had the privilege to work with her.
The Editorial Board of The American Economist would like to dedicate our March 2023 issue to the memory of Dr. Sharmila Vishwasrao; diversity, equity, and inclusion issues were close and dear to her heart, and we know that she would be pleased and proud to see an entire issue of the journal focused on those topics.
Rest in peace, Sharmila.