Longtime Babson economics professor Laurence S. Moss of Brookline, Mass., died February 24, 2009, after a hard-fought battle with cancer. A memorial service will be held on Thursday, May 7, 4:00 p.m. in Babson’s Glavin Family Chapel, with a reception to follow.

Moss taught at the University of Virginia and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University prior to his move to Babson where he has taught economics and law since 1977. He is the author of several books and many articles on the history of economics. His books include Mountifort Longfield: Ireland's First Professor of Political Economy and The Economics of Ludwig von Mises. His most recent article "Bankruptcy Reform in Russia: The Case for Creditor Rights in Russia" was published in the Review of Austrian Economics (2000).

Moss has long been admired for his teaching, using his knowledge of economics and skill as a magician to illustrate the principles of economics. He was featured in a 1993 US News & World Report article for his innovative style teaching aspiring entrepreneurs. His popular class “Scams and Frauds” was also consistently oversubscribed.

He earned a BA and MA at Queens College, an MA and Ph.D. at Columbia University, and a Jurist Doctor (law) at Suffolk University. He was the editor of The American Journal of Economics and Sociology, sponsored by the Robert Schalkenbach Foundation of NYC, for the past 12 years. He served on the editorial boards of History of Political Economy, Journal of the History of Economic Thought, and Small Business Economics. In 1986, he was licensed to practice law in Massachusetts and became a member of the Massachusetts Bar Association. He served on the state's Supreme Judicial Court Standing Committee on pro bono legal services.

He leaves his wife of 30 years Widdy Ho, son Joshua Moss, and his mother Dorothy and sister Vicki.