KatherineTerrell
Katherine Terrell, professor of business economics and public policy, died from respiratory complications Dec. 29 in the Dominican Republic. She was 59.
Terrell, who taught at both the Stephen M. Ross School of Business and the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, was an expert on the impact of government policies and the effect of globalization on wages, employment, income inequality and firm performance in emerging market economies. Her research and teaching focused on countries in Central and Eastern Europe and Latin America, where she grew up.
She directed the international business doctoral program at the Ross School and created the International Economic Development Program at the Ford School — a program “of which we are most proud, in which students travel each spring to a different developing country to contribute by studying their more salient policy issues,” says Alan Deardorff, associate dean at the Ford School.
“As Kathy’s friend, I am devastated by her loss and will miss her terribly,” he says. “We shared a love of international travel, and on more than one occasion I had the pleasure of spending time with her abroad. She especially cared about people in the poorer parts of the world, whom she did her best to help with her research.”
Terrell’s friend and colleague Marina Whitman, also a professor at the Ross School and Ford School, says she had long admired Terrell’s commitment to her work and frequent travels abroad, which often included accompanying Ford School students on their annual trips to developing countries.
“Kathy was not only a valued colleague and a dear friend, but also a person of remarkable courage,” Whitman says. “She carried a full teaching load and was extremely active in research and organizing conferences, despite health problems that most of us would have found totally daunting.”
Graduate student Elizabeth Talbert says Terrell was a great mentor and a good friend.
“I would stop by her office to ask a question and end up talking for half an hour,” Talbert says. “She was always willing to talk about anything. She was both a demanding professor and a supportive and caring friend, and I am grateful for her brief, important presence in my life.”
Terrell was married to Jan Svejnar, who also teaches at the Ross School and the Ford School, where he heads the International Policy Center. The two collaborated on several academic journal articles, books and other research. They are the parents of two grown children, Daniel and Laura, both U-M graduates.
In addition to her research, Terrell consulted with many international organizations, including the World Bank, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. She was also a research fellow at the IZA (Institute for the Study of Labor) in Germany, a visiting researcher at the Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education at Charles University in Prague, and, previously, a research associate at the Center for Economic Research in London.
Terrell joined the Ross School faculty in 1996 and the Ford School in 2001. She was an active faculty affiliate of the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies and the Center for Russian and East European Studies. Prior to coming to U-M, she taught at the University of Pittsburgh and Cornell University, where she received her doctorate in 1984.
— Submitted by Bernie DeGroat, News Service
Eve Gochis
Eve Gochis, business administrator associate at the Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) Laboratory, died at her home Jan. 1.
Gochis was employed at U-M for 15 years and worked in the fMRI Laboratory for the last eight years. She was responsible for the overall financial and administrative oversight of the fMRI Laboratory, including pre- and post-award grant management, facilities, seminar/symposium planning, personnel and Institutional Review Board compliance.
In 2008 Gochis received the Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR) Exceptional Service Award, which honors staff members from OVPR or any of the units that report to it who have made outstanding contributions that go beyond the ordinary fulfillment of the position’s duties.
Gochis graduated from Eastern Michigan University, cum laude, with degrees in business and social studies in 1981. She continued her education at EMU, and in 1993 received her master’s degree in education leadership. She worked in the private sector for a short time and eventually moved into education in Dexter Public Schools.
Gochis is survived by her husband John, son Jason and daughter Emily Gochis of Ann Arbor; and brother Harold Clayton of Tyrone, Ga.
As Gochis had a strong love for animals, in lieu of flowers family members ask that memorial donations be made to the Human Society of Huron Valley.
— Submitted by Doug Noll and John Jonides
