Professor Søren Bo Nielsen has passed away

Søren’s career started as a graduate of MSc in Mathematics-Economics from Aarhus University in 1979. At that time, his main interest was in the field of managerial economics but as a PhD student, his attention turned to macroeconomics. His PhD dissertation, which he defended at the Department of Economics at University of Copenhagen in 1983, concerned the macroeconomic effects of oil price shocks.

In 1991, Søren started at CBS after some years as an economist at the chairmanship of the Danish Economic Councils and associate professor at the University of Copenhagen.  The great trust in Søren’s academic skills was demonstrated in 1993 when he was appointed research professor and head of the research centre “Economic Policy Research Unit” (EPRU) whose establishment at CBS was supported by the Danish National Research Foundation.

During the 90s, EPRU, under the management of Søren, created a highly active research environment at CBS including seminars, conferences, education of PhD students etc. Moreover, several young researchers got a breakthrough due to publications in leading research journals. Many of these researchers later became professors at CBS, University of Copenhagen and international top universities.

It was especially in the field of public economics that Søren achieved his international breakthrough. Both as a sole author and with colleagues in Denmark and abroad, he has published a range of articles about the impact of taxation on savings, supply of labour, multinational corporations, intergenerational distribution, entrepreneurship, venture capital etc. 

He had an impressive talent for bringing new topics to the table and shortly thereafter achieving status as an expert. His research was often published in leading international journals whereby he also became member of a range of editorial boards and prominent international research networks. 

At the Department of Economics, Søren was both an academic beacon and a great colleague. As a person, he was humble, generous and always ready to share his knowledge with others. Particularly young colleagues have benefited from Søren’s great advice and comments. 

Throughout his career, Søren has made great contributions also outside CBS. For a period, he was member of the chairmanship of the Danish Economic Councils (“wiseman”), and he has also had external, consultative functions in relation to the Faroe Islands and Greenland. However, it is in his role as a professor that he had his major breakthrough. We are definitely going to miss him. 

All honour to his memory.

Words by Svend Erik Hougaard Jensen