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Categories: Newsletter, Newsletter Issue 2017:2


Passing of Melayne Morgan McInnes, former editor of the ASHEcon Newsletter

We are very saddened to share news of the loss of our founding leader of the ASHEcon newsletter, Melayne Morgan McInnes.  Melayne was a professor of economics at the Moore School of Business at University of South Carolina (USC). She died April 20, 2017 of complications from breast cancer.  Melayne was the editor of the ASHecon newsletter, starting with the inaugural issue in Spring 2007, until the Fall 2012 issue. She efficiently, skillfully and cheerfully marshaled the troops and produced the newsletter, including writing a witty advice column for students and new Ph.D.s which was called “Dear ASHEly”. She was 51 years old and we can all agree she left us much too soon.

Melayne earned her B.A. in economics and political science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1988, her M.S. in economics from Florida State University in 1991, and her Ph.D. in economics from Yale University in 1998.

One of only two women who were tenured full professors in her Department of Economics, Melayne was a popular teacher, who twice received USC’s Mortar Board Teaching Award.  At USC, Melayne was an Honors College Fellow and was formerly the graduate coordinator for economics, overseeing the M.A. and Ph.D. programs in that department. In addition to the courses she taught on the Carolina campus, Melayne led USC undergraduates on several business/economics courses in New Zealand.

Her academic research interests included experimental economics, the economics of the health care industry, medical malpractice, the economic burden of smoking and obesity, and the economics of insurance. Her articles were published in many peer-reviewed journals, including the American Economic Review, Journal of Industrial Economics, Journal of Risk and Insurance, American Journal of Public Health, and Journal of Risk and Uncertainty.

Melayne was a loving wife to her husband of 23 years, Donald A. McInnes, and an extraordinary mother to their cherished daughter, Elise.

A fund has been established to honor Dr. McInnes. This fund will be used to recognize superior scholarship by Economics Ph.D. students at the University of South Carolina. Donations can be made by phone (877-349-2106) or online.