We were sad to learn that one of PERC’s founding members, Richard L. Stroup, passed away on November 18, 2021. In addition to helping establish PERC, Stroup was a longtime PERC senior fellow and pioneer of free market environmentalism.
Stroup received his Ph.D. in economics from the University of Washington and moved to Bozeman in 1969, where he taught at Montana State University for more than 37 years. He founded PERC in 1980 along with Terry Anderson, John Baden, and P.J. Hill. Stroup also directed the Office of Policy Analysis at the Department of the Interior for several years during the Reagan administration. After retiring from MSU, he and his wife, Jane Shaw, moved to North Carolina, where he became an emeritus professor at North Carolina State University.
Stroup was a widely published author and speaker on economics, natural resources, and environmental issues. He was one of the originators of free market environmentalism and author of many important studies and reports on the subject. His primer on environmental economics, Eco-Nomics: What Everyone Should Know About Economics and the Environment, received the 2004 Sir Antony Fisher Memorial Award. He also co-authored with James D. Gwartney the widely read economics principles textbook Economics: Private and Public Choice, which is now in its 17th edition.
Our condolences go out to Rick’s family, friends, former colleagues, and his wife Jane. Rick’s contributions to PERC and free market environmentalism will be deeply missed.
You can read more about PERC’s history here. PERC senior fellow Jonathan Adler also comments on Stroup’s legacy here.
