Richard C. Green, a nationally recognized financial economist and longtime professor at Carnegie Mellon University, died of cancer Friday at his Squirrel Hill home. He was 62.
His friend and colleague Mike Trick described Mr. Green as a “very broadly intellectually interested” scholar who allowed an interest in literature and history to inform his approach to teaching at the Tepper School of Business.
“He really did represent an important aspect of intellectual rigor and a belief that research and understanding are important. That’s really a big part of who we are, and he was an important person to move that forward into the next generation,” said Mr. Trick, Tepper’s senior associate dean of faculty and research.
For 10 years, the friends went for coffee three times a day across campus and discussed, among other things, the latest text or theme in which Mr. Green was immersed.
“The most amazing aspect was that his conversations never got dull,” he said.
Born in Chicago and raised mostly in Tucson, Ariz., Mr. Green studied English as an undergraduate at Pomona College in Claremont, Calif., before refocusing his efforts on business and finance as a master’s and then doctoral student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
He and co-author Jonathan Berk, now of Stanford University, produced a study, published in the Journal of Political Economy in 2004, that advanced the professional understanding of mutual fund markets and managers, according to a recent CMU tribute.
Friends said Mr. Green loved Western Pennsylvania’s proximity to nature, especially the Youghiogheny River, where he would often fly-fish, sometimes with doctoral students and junior associates.
As of Wednesday afternoon, more than two dozen people had shared condolences in the comments section of the Tepper Facebook post announcing his death, including Amanda Fox, who remembered those outings.
“Heartbreaking,” she wrote. “It was great being his student, but becoming his colleague was better. Thanks for the long talks about mountains, fishing and nature, Professor. You were one of the real ones.”
Burton Hollifield, Tepper’s head of undergraduate business administration, recalled sharing daily runs with his friend that, years later, turned to walks home from work. They met in the late 1980s, when Mr. Hollifield was a doctoral student.
“For so many years, he was kind of an integral part of life at CMU,” he said.
Mr. Green was diagnosed at the end of June with bile duct cancer. He is survived by his wife of 39 years, Stephanie; two daughters, Emily of Pittsburgh and Julia of Oakland, Calif.; and a sister, Karen Hobson, of Tucson.
Services are private. A date for his remembrance at CMU has not been set.
Memorial contributions may be made to Trout Unlimited, P.O. Box 7400, Woolly Bugger, W.Va. 25438, or the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, 800 Waterfront Drive, Pittsburgh 15222.
Molly Born: mborn@post-gazette.com or 412-230-6648.
First Published: October 15, 2015, 4:00 a.m.
