We are sad to announce the passing of Mike Marrese, Penn Economics Ph.D. in 1977, on 26 December 2024. Mike specialized in Soviet and post-Soviet economies. He was on the faculty at Northwestern for 15 years, at the International Monetary Fund for four years, was a Managing Director at J. P. Morgan and Head of Economic Research and Sovereign Strategy for the CEEMEA (Central-Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa) and a Visiting Professor in Economics at Royal Holloway University of London and Research Associate of the Centre for New and Emerging Markets, London Business School.