Frederic Michael Scherer (August 1, 1932 – May 25, 2025) was an American economist and expert onindustrial organization. From 2006, he worked as a professor of economics at the JFK School of Government at Harvard University.
Scherer received his A.B. degree with honors and distinction from theUniversity of Michigan and his M.B.A. with high distinction fromHarvard University in 1958 and his PhD in economics from Harvard in 1963.[1] He was married to Barbara Silbermann Scherer, and the couple had three children and eight grandchildren.[2] Frederic M. Scherer died on May 25, 2025, at the age of 92.[3]
Scherer served as the chief economist for theFederal Trade Commission in 1974-76.[4] He has taught atPrinceton University,Northwestern University,Swarthmore College,Haverford College, theUniversity of Bayreuth and theCentral European University. Since 2006 Scherer has been Emeritus Professor of Public Policy and Corporate Management in the Aetna Chair, in theJohn F. Kennedy School of Government,Harvard University.
His research specialties includeindustrial economics and the economics oftechnological change, on which he has many much-cited publications, including the books listed below, and the articles.[5][6] His 1971 textbook on Industrial Organization has gone through many editions, and Scherer still participated on the advisory board for the scholarly magazine of the same name. Scherer has also published recently concerning patent policy reform.[7] Upon the death ofThomas McCraw, Scherer may be the scholar with the most expertise concerning the theories of former Harvard professorJoseph Schumpeter, about whom he has made a series of YouTube videos.[8]
Scherer received the first "Distinguished Fellow Award" from the Industrial Organization Society in 1999;[9] the second was Jean Tirole,[10] who later received the Nobel Prize in 2014 for his work in industrial organization.[11] Scherer also received an honorary doctorate from theUniversity of Hohenheim, Germany. He served as the 3rd[12] president of the Industrial Organization Society, as well as of the International Joseph A. Schumpeter Society, and vice president of the American Economic Association and of the Southern Economic Association. He received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Antitrust Institute in 2002.[13]
