The first woman to earn a Ph.D. in economics at Princeton, Elizabeth died Aug. 19, 2022, of complications of Parkinson’s disease in Reston, Va.
Born in New York Nov. 26, 1938, Elizabeth earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Radcliffe in 1960. She joined Bell Laboratories as a computer programmer and technical aide. While at Bell Labs, Elizabeth earned a master’s degree in mathematics at Stevens Institute of Technology in 1966, followed by a Ph.D. from Princeton in 1972.
At Bell Labs, Elizabeth became chief of economic research. In 1977, President Jimmy Carter appointed her the first female member of the Civil Aeronautics Board, where she helped provide the intellectual framework for the deregulation of the airline industry. President Ronald Regan named her vice chair in 1981.
Elizabeth was dean of Carnegie Mellon’s graduate school of industrial administration from 1983 to 1990, becoming the first woman to serve as dean of a Top 10 graduate business school. She later joined the Wharton faculty, chairing the Department of Business Economics and Public Policy before her retirement in 2010.
She served on the boards of companies including TIAA-CREF, the CSX Corp., Honeywell, and Kraft.
Elizabeth is survived by her son, William; four sisters; and two grandchildren.
Graduate memorials are prepared by the APGA.