In Memoriam: Sharon Oster, 1948-2022

Sharon Oster, an influential economist and a towering figure in the history of the Yale School of Management, died on June 10, after a long battle with cancer. She was 73 years old.

Dr. Oster joined the economics faculty at Yale Univerity in 1974. She joined the faculty at the Yale School of Management in 1982 and was awarded tenure a year later. Dr. Oster was the school’s first tenured woman professor and first woman dean. She served as dean from 2008 to 2011. Dr. Oster was named the Frederic D. Wolfe Professor of Economics and Management in 1992. She retired from teaching in 2018.

Dr. Oster’s textbook, Modern Competitive Analysis (Oxford University Press, 1990), is used in business courses across the United States. She also authored the textbook Strategic Management of Nonprofit Organizations: Theory and Cases (Oxford University Press, 1995).

Dr. Oster was a graduate of Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York. She held a Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University.