Roberto S. Mariano

Remembering Our Founding Dean, Roberto S. Mariano (1944–2025)

I always say that the bottom line of it is that integrity and being true to your principles is the most important guide for whatever decisions you make later and how you cope with the different situations, different problems. Because in the end you’ve got to be satisfied with what you decide to do and the best guide for it is in terms of one’s integrity and values. And SMU talks about this many times in different forms, but to me that’s one of the most important things, just maintaining your set of values and being true to them."

Professor Roberto S. Mariano, Founding Dean of the School of Economics and Social Sciences at SMU, and Professor of Economics (Emeritus) passed away on 17 April 2025.

Professor Roberto S Mariano was appointed as founding dean of the School of Economics and Social Sciences in 2002. He oversaw the intake of the inaugural classes of the economics and social science bachelor’s programmes in 2002 and 2004 respectively and also served as the Vice Provost for research and Deputy Director of the Wharton-SMU Research Centre. He was Dean of the School of Economics (SOE) from 2007 to 2010. During his tenure as Dean, three graduate programmes were also added: the Master of Science in Applied Economics, Master of Science in Economics, and the PhD in Economics.

Prior to joining SMU, Professor Mariano had been with the University of Pennsylvania from 1971. A distinguished economist and econometrician, Professor Mariano's co-development of the Diebold-Mariano test has become a fundamental tool in econometrics, widely used for evaluating forecast accuracy. Professor Mariano was a Fellow of the Econometric Society, served on its Executive Council representing Southeast and South Asia, and held roles on the Governing Council of the International Association for Statistical Computing. His editorial contributions included appointments to leading journals such as the Journal of the American Statistical Association, International Economic Review, and Econometric Theory. Professor Mariano was a consultant on econometric modelling for forecasting and policy analysis for various central banks, government ministries, stock exchanges, and private companies in Asia and the United States. In 2022, Professor Mariano was appointed by Pope Francis to serve as board member of the Supervisory and Financial Information Authority (ASIF), the Holy See’s financial intelligence and anti-money laundering unit.

He was instrumental in shaping the identity and strength of SOE. Under his visionary leadership, SOE grew into a vibrant community of world-class faculty, outstanding students, dedicated alumni, and strong industry partnerships. SMU’s reputation in econometrics today owes much to the strong academic foundations he laid. At the time he stepped off as Dean, SOE made it into the Tilburg University Top 100 Worldwide Economics Research Rankings.

His foresight also led to the establishment of the Sim Kee Boon Institute for Financial Economics (SKBI) in 2008. Under his able leadership as Founding Director of SKBI (2008 to 2010), SOE and SKBI successfully hosted the 2008 Far Eastern and South Asian Meeting of the Econometric Society meeting. In addition, the Institute initiated and spearheaded numerous conferences, seminars and symposiums on REITs and real estate, corporate governance, silver security and longevity risk. SKBI continues to advance multidisciplinary research in financial economics in collaboration with global academic, industry, and public sector partners.

Beyond his scholarly accomplishments and leadership contributions, he will be remembered as a beloved teacher, mentor, and colleague. Generations of students and young scholars at both UPenn and SMU have been inspired by his intellect, generosity, and unwavering dedication to the pursuit of knowledge.

We mourn the loss of a remarkable academic whose career spanned over five decades and who leaves behind an indelible legacy—not just at SMU, but across the global academic community.