Elisabeth “Betty” Sadoulet, a respected scholar in international development economics and professor emerita at the University of California, Berkeley, died on October 17, 2025. She joined UC Berkeley’s Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics (ARE) in 1985 after earning her PhD from the University of Geneva.
Sadoulet was known for her work in development economics, focusing on issues such as growth strategies, agricultural technologies, microcredit programs, conditional cash transfers, land property rights, and environmental sustainability. Her research took her to various countries where she advised organizations including the United Nations and the World Bank. She also worked with governments such as Mexico’s.
She co-founded the Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA), a research hub at Berkeley that aims to develop evidence-based solutions to global poverty through projects related to health, education, and economic development.
MIT Professor of Economics and Nobel Laureate Abhijit Banerjee said: “Betty Sadoulet is a unique, heroic figure in her generation of development economists. [She was] kind and approachable and committed to the social good, while deeply serious when it came to the quality of research.”
Sadoulet co-authored “Development Economics: Theory and Practice” with Alain de Janvry. The book provides an overview of major global economic development issues and is widely used in classrooms. It is now in its second edition.
Her professional roles included serving as a senior fellow at FERDI in France and holding honorary life membership with the International Association of Agricultural Economists. She was recognized as a fellow by the Agricultural & Applied Economics Association (AAEA) and served on several editorial boards such as those for Agricultural Economics and World Development. In 2021 she received the Publication of Enduring Quality Award at an AAEA & Western Agricultural Economics Association Joint Annual Meeting.
Professor Sofia Villas-Boas, current chair of ARE at UC Berkeley, noted Sadoulet’s impact on students: “Professor Sadoulet helped shape the careers of generation after generation of graduate students — mentoring them through research projects in developing countries, launching them into impactful careers in academia and leading international organizations, and continuing to guide them throughout their professional journeys.”
Gordon Rausser, professor emeritus in ARE and former dean of Rausser College of Natural Resources added: “Sadoulet elevated the standards of our PhD program like no one else, instilling in us a deep appreciation for rigorous empirical economic analysis and the critical importance of identification in isolating causality.”
In 2016 Sadoulet received UC Berkeley’s College of Natural Resources Distinguished Teaching Award. Professor Ethan Ligon commented: “That she continued contributing meaningful work until the very end was characteristic of someone who saw scholarship not as a job, but as a calling.”
Frederico Finan (PhD ’06), now faculty at UC Berkeley’s Department of Economics said: “[Betty] was a kind and generous human being who reminded us never to lose sight of the deeper purpose of our work — to improve the lives and opportunities of those living in poverty around the world.”
A funeral service took place on October 25 in Lyon, France. The Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics plans a memorial conference for Spring 2026 with participation from colleagues including Alain de Janvry.
