University community mourns economist Shu Wu

LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas community is mourning the May 31 death of Shu Wu, associate professor of economics. He was 51.

“I am profoundly saddened to learn of the death of Professor Wu, who was both a dedicated scholar and a devoted teacher during his 18 years of service to our economics department,” said Chancellor Douglas A. Girod. “On behalf of the entire university, I offer my condolences to his family, his friends, and his KU colleagues and students.”

Wu joined the department in 2000 as an assistant professor and the Charles W. Oswald Faculty Scholar. He was promoted to associate professor with tenure in 2007 and served as the associate chair and director of graduate programs from 2009 to 2016. 

His areas of research spanned macroeconomics, finance and applied time series econometrics. Wu had numerous publications and conference presentations to his name, and he was a member of the American Economic Association, the American Finance Association and the Western Finance Association. 

Milena Stanislavova, department chair, called Wu a great friend, amazing colleague and a distinguished macroeconomist.

“A brilliant economist and a very fine person, he is beloved by everyone at KU Economics — our graduate students, faculty and staff,” Stanislavova said. “This is a terrible loss for all of us and for KU."

A funeral liturgy was June 3 in Shawnee.