Sadly, brilliant economics professor and prolific author Walter Williams, 84, died Wednesday, December 2, 2020.
With his passing, the nation lost an insightful and respected economist and libertarian intellectual.
On Twitter, Senator Rand Paul called Williams “an important voice for liberty.”
Williams served as the John M. Olin Distinguished Professor of Economics at George Mason University, where he taught for 40 years, including a class the day before he died.
Over the course of his career, Williams published 10 books and more than 150 journalistic publications.
He could also be heard as a substitute host on Rush Limbaugh’s radio show and served as adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute, where he was a lecturer.
The Wall Street Journal noted, “His research was rigorous, and he was one of the few economists who know how to engage with the public.”
Outspoken and direct, Williams made it clear he was beholding to no one. Sometimes he was viewed as a contrarian. “I just do my own thing,” he once quipped.
Williams appears in numerous videos (many available on YouTube) to discuss a variety of topics on economics, current events, and social justice. Here he appears in a discussion appropriately titled, “Walter Williams Suffers No Fools.”
While deeply saddened by Walter’s passing, Convention of States celebrates his achievements, his enthusiasm for personal liberty, and his devotion to individual responsibility and free market economics.
