The Hoover Institution announced today that renowned economist and senior fellow Rita Ricardo-Campbell died on March 7, 2016, at the age of ninety-five.
“Rita Ricardo-Campbell will be remembered for her meaningful contribution to health care and Social Security research. While the loss is great, it is heartening that her legacy will live on through the Hoover Institution’s Glenn Campbell and Rita Ricardo Campbell National Fellows program,” stated Tom Gilligan, Director, Hoover Institution.
Ricardo-Campbell’s depth of experience extended to both the private and public sectors. She served as a director of the Gillette Company, the Watkins Johnson Company, and the Samaritan Medical Management Group. On the public side, she was a member of the President's Economic Policy Advisory Board (1981-1989), a member of the National Endowment for the Humanities (1982-1988), a member of the President's Committee on the National Medal of Science (1981 and 1991), and a member of the Advisory Council on Social Security (1974-1975). She held teaching posts at Harvard and Tufts Universities before becoming an economist on the Wage Stabilization Board in Washington, DC, and subsequently as an economist for the House Ways and Means Committee.
"The impact of Rita’s work is well understood. But what people don’t know is that Rita was a true pioneer, ahead of her time,” said Ed Lazear, Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution. "She was the first female professor of economics at Harvard and throughout the years had significant influence on political leaders, all while raising her beautiful family. She was an inspiration and will be missed by many."
Ricardo-Campbell was a prominent writer, authoring a number of reputable books: Social Security: Promise and Reality; The Economics and Politics of Health; Issues in Contemporary Retirement (coedited with Hoover Institution’s Edward Lazear); Aging: Social Security and Medicare; Below-Replacement Fertility in Industrial Societies; and Women and Comparable Worth.
A native of Boston, Massachusetts, Ricardo-Campbell received her bachelor’s of science degree from Simmons College and master's and PhD degrees from Harvard University. She was preceded in death by her husband, former Hoover Institution Director W. Glenn Campbell. She is survived by three daughters, Diane Rita Campbell, Barbara Lee Gray and Nancy Elizabeth Yaeger, and four grandchildren.
Ricardo-Campbell’s research papers are available at the Hoover Institution Archives.
About the Hoover Institution: The Hoover Institution, Stanford University, is a public policy research center devoted to the advanced study of economics, politics, history, and political economy—both domestic and foreign—as well as international affairs. With its eminent scholars and world-renowned Library & Archives, the Hoover Institution seeks to improve the human condition by advancing ideas that promote economic opportunity and prosperity and secure and safeguard peace for America and all mankind.
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