The Goldman School of Public Policy mourns the passing of Emeritus Professor and former GSPP Dean Eugene Smolensky on Sunday, Dec 17, 2023, at the age of 91. 
 
Eugene “Geno” Smolensky was Dean of the Goldman School of Public Policy from 1988 to 1997 and Director of the Institute for Research on Poverty at the University of Wisconsin from 1980 to 1983. He also served in both the Carter and Clinton Administrations.  
 
Smolensky was a public finance economist and leader in the study of poverty, income distribution, and social welfare programs. His path-breaking 1977 book (with Morgan Reynolds), Public Expenditures, Taxes, and the Distribution of Income: The United States, 1950, 1961, 1970, provided the first detailed look at income inequality over time that took into account the benefits and burdens of government expenditures and taxes at all levels. His other work considered homelessness, measures of poverty, discrimination against minorities, immigration and poverty, and the challenges of child care, family work policies, and low incomes facing working families. 
 
Under his deanship of the Goldman School, the core funding was obtained to build a second building (1893 LeRoy) and expand the school. He created the Advisory Board for the School, including international members, that serves to broaden the sources of innovative ideas and initiatives for the School to pursue. 
 
Geno was much beloved by students, staff, and faculty for his humor, decency, and wisdom. He was elected a fellow of both the National Academy of Social Insurance and the National Academy of Public Administration. He served on the Board of Trustees of the Russell Sage Foundation, and he was Vice-President of the International Institute of Public Finance. He served as Editor of the Journal of Human Resources, the leading economics journal on the study of poverty and related topics. He was an advisor to numerous organizations, including the World Bank, the U.S. Social Security Administration, the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, and the National League of Cities. 
 
Eugene Smolensky held a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Pennsylvania. He was predeceased by his beloved wife, Natalie Joan Rabinowitz Smolensky (d. 2005), and is survived by the following family members: children Paul Smolensky and Beth Smolensky; daughter-in-law Géraldine Legendre; grandson Josh Legendre Smolensky and spouse Megan Ulsh Smolensky; nephew Matthew Rabin; and great-grandaughters Chloe Noelle Smolensky (age 8), Claire Natalie Smolensky (age 5).
 
A memorial service for Geno will be held sometime in the spring.