The international economics profession mourns the passing of Ira N. Gang, Professor of Economics at Rutgers University, a widely respected scholar of development, migration, labor economics, political economy, and public policy. His death is a profound loss to Rutgers and the global community of economists working on migration, development, and population issues.

Ira Gang received his Ph.D. in Economics from Cornell University in 1983. Before joining Rutgers University in 1986, he taught at Pitzer College and Claremont Graduate School and at Duke University. Rutgers remained his academic home for four decades. His international orientation was reinforced by many research visits across Europe and Asia and several appointments as an Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellow in Germany. He was also a Research Fellow of the Institute for the Study of Labor, IZA, and the Global Labor Organization, GLO.

His research combined economic theory with careful empirical analysis. He made important contributions to the study of developing and transition economies, international migration, immigrant integration, ethnic identity, education, poverty, governance, foreign aid, and the political economy of migration. His work has appeared in leading journals, including the Quarterly Journal of Economics, Journal of Human Resources, Journal of Development Economics, Journal of Economic Theory, Industrial and Labor Relations Review, Economic Development and Cultural Change, and Journal of Population Economics. He was one of the founding editors of the Review of Development Economics and served on the editorial boards of several international journals, including as an Associate Editor of the Journal of Population Economics.

A significant part of his scholarly path was his collaboration with Klaus F. Zimmermann, GLO President and Founding Director of IZA. Their joint article, “Is Child Like Parent? Educational Attainment and Ethnic Origin,” published in the Journal of Human Resources in 2000, examined the educational attainment of second-generation immigrants in Germany and demonstrated the continuing importance of ethnic origin and networks. The research originated during Gang’s stay at the University of Munich as an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow and was further developed during Zimmermann’s visiting professorship at Dartmouth College. It became an influential contribution to the economics of immigrant integration, intergenerational mobility, and human capital formation, and it became the most cited article on Gang’s publication list.

The collaboration with Zimmermann formed part of a much broader intellectual partnership involving migration research, the Journal of Population Economics, and the international research community surrounding IZA. Gang became an IZA Research Fellow in 1998 and contributed repeatedly to its research activities and international conferences.

Ira Gang has also been a committed supporter of the Global Labor Organization (GLO) since its creation in 2017. As a GLO Fellow, he contributed to the international research network, disseminated his research through the GLO Discussion Paper Series, and actively participated in its scholarly activities. For instance, he presented his work on education and migration in the GLO Virtual Seminar Series. His support reflects a broader commitment to international academic cooperation, open intellectual exchange, and the advancement of younger researchers.

Ira Gang leaves behind a substantial scientific legacy and the memory of a scholar who strengthened institutions and young researchers, sustained international collaborations, and generously supported the global community of labor, migration, and development economists. He will be greatly missed.