Mark Whittlesey Leiserson, a former ,professor of economics at Yale and a leading international economist in the field of labor and development, died after a battle with cancer on Aug. 22 at his home in Arlington, Virginia.
He was 78 years old.
A specialist in the economics of developing nations, Professor Leiserson worked at the World Bank 1974-1987, participating in numerous research missions to Africa and Asia. He was chief of the bank's Division of Employment and Rural Development and the first managing editor of The World Bank Economic Review, a professional journal for disseminating bank-sponsored research to economists and social scientists.
Before joining the World Bank, Mr. Leiserson spent 16 years (1954-1970) as a professor of economics at Yale, where he was a fellow of Berkeley College. He also worked for four years as a senior research economist at the International Labor Office in Geneva, Switzerland.
Born in Toledo, Ohio, Mark Leiserson was the son of Emily Bodman a labor economist and professor who chaired the first National Mediation Board and was a member of the National Labor Relations Board during the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration.
During World War II, he served in the U.S. Army's civil affairs and military government forces in England, France and Germany. After the war, he received his A.B. magna cum laude and his Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University. His doctoral dissertation grew out of his work from 1951 to 1953 as program officer for the Special Mission to Norway for Economic Cooperation, a Marshall Plan program based in Oslo. This experience also led Professor Leiserson to write his first book, "Wages and Economic Control in Norway, 19451957."
From 1962 to 1964, he took a sabbatical from Yale to serve as joint director of the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics in Karachi, Pakistan. Professor Leiserson authored "Survey of Wage-Price Problems in Europe," commissioned and published by the U.S. Congress in 1959; and he was the coordinating author of "Employment and Income Distribution in Indonesia," published by the World Bank in 1980. Throughout his career, he mentored and inspired scores of international economists.
After his retirement from the World Bank in 1987, Professor Leiserson volunteered at Ballou Senior High School in Washington, D.C., tutoring students in English and mathematics. Until the time of his illness, he remained a dedicated sailor and avid squash player. He also enjoyed downhill skiing well into his 70s.
He is survived by his wife of 52 years, Jean Oliver Leiserson of Arlington, Virginia; five children: Steven G. Leiserson of El Cajon, California, Charles E. Leiserson ( Yale College 1975) of Cambridge, Massachusetts, Diane Leiserson Hayden (Yale College 1978) of Rancho Palos Verdes, California, Ruth Leiserson Hollman of Los Angeles, California, and William M. Leiserson (currently associate research scientist in molecular, cellular and development biology at Yale) of North Haven, Connecticut; and 12 grandchildren.
Donations in memory of Professor Leiserson may be sent to Hospices of Northern Virginia, 9300 Lee Highway, Suite 500, Fairfax, VA 22031.
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