David Smyth

Professor David John Smyth
died Friday, October 17 at Promise Hospital in Baton Rouge, aged 78 years. The cause of death was pneumonia. Born April 17, 1936 in Twickenham, London, England he subsequently moved to Queensland, Australia with his family. He graduated from the University of Queensland with First Class Honors, receiving the Archibald Prize. He returned to England for graduate school, attending the London School of Economics before taking a lectureship at the University of Birmingham and being awarded his Ph.D. in Economics there.Throughout his career Professor Smyth was a prolific and distinguished researcher, publishing well over a hundred scholarly articles. His primary focus was on macroeconomicsincluding work on inflation dynamics, determinants of investment, economic growth and forecasting accuracybut he also examined topics as diverse as the effect of the economy on presidential popularity and the economics of higher education. In addition he founded the Journal of Macroeconomics, which he edited for over 20 years, working to push back the frontiers of knowledge. He started his career in the United States at SUNYBuffalo and then moved to The Claremont Graduate School. Following that, he moved to Wayne State University in Detroit Michigan, where he served as Chairman of the Economics Department for a number of years and received the University Distinguished Service Award. In 1987 he came to LSU where he was the LSU Foundation Distinguished Professor of Economics until his retirement following a stroke he was an Emeritus Professor at LSU. A testament to his determination and commitment to his field, he then took up a Research Professorship at Middlesex University in London, England he remained there until he retired in 2001 as an Emeritus Research Professor.

Professor Smyth is survived by his wife of forty five years, Jane Smyth of Baton Rouge, LA his son Alexander Smyth of San Francisco, CA and his son Seamus Smyth along with his two grandsons Austin and Wallace Smyth and daughterinlaw Monica Lai all of New York, NY. He was preceded by his parents John and Ena Smyth, as well as a younger brother Paul Smyth.

A service will be held at 7pm on Monday at Resthaven Funeral Home on Jefferson Highway the family will receive visitors from 57pm.

Visitation

Resthaven Funeral Home
11817 Jefferson Highway
Baton Rouge, LA  70816
Monday, October 20, 2014
5:00 pm7:00 pm

Service

Service

Resthaven Funeral Home
11817 Jefferson Highway
Baton Rouge, LA  70816
Monday, October 20, 2014
7:00 pm