Elena Quercioli

MADISON - Elena Quercioli, age 53, of Madison, passed away on Monday, July 26, 2021, at Agrace HospiceCare. Elena Quercioli was the second of three Quercioli sisters from Pisa, Italy. She spent a life learning, first languages, and then economics. She often credited her mom for learning material with her and stood atop of her bachelor’s class at Pisa in Economics in 1992. Elena became a classic itinerant scholar. First, she went to England, where she eventually earned her PhD in Economics at Essex. Going on the academic job market brought her first to the London School of Economics as a visitor in 1998, and then to ITAM in Mexico City for four years. In 2004, she took a research fellowship at the University of Michigan to kickstart her publishing and escape a very rough city. Next, she taught at Tulane for three years, and then Central Michigan for five. Finally, she started a tenure track assistant professorship at the University of Texas (UTRGV), where she has taught until now. She kickstarted a weekly faculty meeting group at Texas, and her vivacious spirit made it all happen. She also adopted a stray chiweenie, whom she named Sebastiano, who liked to hang out by her apartment. Two years ago, she acquired a friend chihuahua mix Valentina, as a friend for Sebastiano. Around this time, Elena published her career paper in counterfeiting in the profession’s most prestigious journal Econometrica. This paper, with Lones Smith (Wisconsin), was inspired by an experience in Mexico, having received counterfeit money from ATM’s. Her theory coauthor on this paper recounts her signature saying, “I want to change the world”. She developed a health interest, and wrote on suicide, highlighting the higher suicide risk on the west side of time zone lines. Noticing a similarity of counterfeit money to diseases - both passing unwittingly person to person and countered only by vigilance - she and Lones began a large project on an economic analysis of contagions. This project was first propelled by data from the Swine Flu epidemic that Elena carefully gathered. The project added other coauthors, and just yielded unexpected fruit - explaining precisely how economic incentives greatly slowed the progress of the COVID-19 pandemic. Elena was characterized by a vivacious spirit. She strived for the stars, and inspired others to. She worked immensely hard on personal fitness. But sadly, she received a breast cancer diagnosis in 2018. She did several rounds of chemotherapy. It went into remission and all the while she continued her assistant professorship in Texas. The cancer turned metastatic in summer, and she continued to teach, now virtually, and even entered immunotherapy. Now shy of her 54th birthday, she lost her battle. Those who knew Elena saw a bubbly spirit who could not hold back her enthusiasm - even on worldwide Zoom talks on her contagion paper during this past year. The world has lost one of its most enthusiastic young economists. Her friends now want for her laughter, her determination. Her family has lost its world traveler beautiful daughter, sister, and aunt. And her dogs their most devoted dog mommy. All at too young an age. Among her last words were “I view life as a journey”. Her journey has changed the world and moved people. Elena is survived by her parents, Annamaria and Carlo; sisters, Paula and Giulia; niece and nephew, Emma and Leo; and her friends, Alessandro, Ombretta, Susy, Gabriella, AnnaGiulia, Francesca, Marta, Rossella, Tiziana from Italy, Jessica from Michigan, Martha from Texas, Lones, Rick, and Meghan from Wisconsin and Trevor from the UK. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at ST. PATRICK CATHOLIC CHURCH, 404 East Main Street, Madison, at 10 a.m., on Friday, July 30, 2021, with Monsignor Kevin Holmes presiding. Visitation will be held at the church from 9 a.m. until the time of the Mass on Friday. Online condolences may be made at www.gundersonfh.com. Gunderson Fitchburg Funeral & Cremation Care 2950 Chapel Valley Rd., Fitchburg, Wisc. (608) 442-5002