In memoriam: Marius Schwartz, 9/12/1956 – 6/9/2026

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Professor Marius Schwartz passed away on June 9, 2026. Brilliant, funny, insightful, kind, irreverent, generous, and a firm believer in truth,” he taught at Georgetown for more than forty years, receiving the Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award in 2001 and 2010. He was committed to his students, and served as the department’s director of undergraduate studies on three occasions, as well as director of graduate studies.

Marius was an expert in the field of Industrial Organization, with a focus on the economics that underpins antitrust law and competition policy.  During his four decades as a faculty member at Georgetown, he served terms as Chief Economist at the Federal Communications Commission, Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Economics at the U.S. Department of Justice, and Senior Economist on the President’s Council of Economic Advisers.  He invariably brought those experiences with him into the classroom.

The best example was his course Topics in Competition and Regulation, which focused on how antitrust law was used to combat market power.  He always illustrated and illuminated the underlying economic theory with case studies, and brought the material to life through in-class mock trials based on actual antitrust cases.

Marius’ enthusiasm for teaching spilled over to his colleagues, whom he would often ambush in the hallway as he excitedly sought a fresh pair of eyes for his latest pedagogical idea, not infrequently presented as a scribbled graph on the back of a proverbial envelope. We are all better teachers for having known Marius, and for having been buttonholed by his infectious enthusiasm and animated creativity.

A true scholar/teacher, Marius taught and conducted research in parallel. He was not one to obsess over technical virtuosity, but instead always found the most accessible way to convey concepts and contexts. He influenced dozens of colleagues, and hundreds of students.

Perhaps most poignantly, one colleague reflected that “While Marius was a great economist with a rich career that I deeply admire, he was even more of an inspiration to me in the way he approached life and, ultimately, death. He was always the optimist, biting into life to the fullest, with energy, curiosity, and generosity.”

He was well loved.

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