Stephen E. Margolis, longtime Poole College faculty member, economics department head and highly respected teacher, scholar and colleague, died Aug. 21.

Born in New York City in 1950, he earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Northwestern University and, in 1978, a doctorate in economics from the University of California at Los Angeles. In 1982 he joined Poole College, from which he retired in 2017. 

Margolis was department head at Poole for seven years and won multiple teaching awards. His influential research was frequently cited in other scholars’ papers. 

“Steve conducted path-breaking research on the interaction between technological change, marketplace competition and antitrust issues,” says Poole economics professor Lee Craig. 

Margolis founded, with other NC State faculty, the Society for Politics, Economics and the Law, and he also organized other programs. Through the various initiatives, “Steve introduced students to important economic matters and modeled a high standard for civil debate on contentious public-policy issues,” Craig says. 

Margolis reinforced his dedication to teaching and service in other ways, too.

He was deeply engaged in NC State’s Park Scholarships program, serving as a Park Faculty Mentor for at least eight Park Scholars from 1996 to 2017, and as one of two Park Faculty Scholars who worked closely from 2006 to 2010 with all 50 scholars in the Park Scholarships Class of 2010.

He also was co-creator and co-director of the NC State-IBM On-Site Undergraduate Degree Program in Business Management in the 1980s and 1990s, which gave eligible IBM employees an opportunity to earn a degree while still working.

Margolis received an NC State Outstanding Extension Service Award for the NC State-IBM program, and in 2008 he was named an Alumni Distinguished Undergraduate Professor.

“Steve was always available to help both students and colleagues,” says emeritus economics professor Doug Pearce. “He had a great sense of humor and never took himself too seriously despite his many accomplishments. Based on student evaluations, I think students appreciated the clarity of his lectures and his willingness to answer questions, both in class and out.”

Craig describes Margolis as an excellent scholar and classroom teacher, saying “Steve was a good colleague for more than 30 years. He was also a first-rate department head. It is not difficult to find academicians who are good at some of their professional obligations, but it is unusual to find one who excelled at all of them.” 

As department head, Margolis also excelled at fostering camaraderie among the economics faculty.

In that role, he and his wife, Nancy, hosted “soup and suds seminars” at their home for professors, current department head Denis Pelletier says. “That was great for the life of the department … He was friendly and good at getting people to interact.”

One of Margolis’s abiding passions was cars, which he collected and sometimes raced. His colleagues recall that he particularly liked Alfa Romeos and was a skilled mechanic who gave automotive advice to fellow faculty members. 

The NC State University Club in Raleigh hosted a celebration of Margolis’s life in September. 

He is survived by his wife, two children and two grandchildren. His family has suggested that donations be made to a charity of one’s choice in honor of Margolis, with possibilities including NC State’s Park Scholarships Program or the Dementia Alliance of North Carolina.