Richard Sabot (February 16, 1944 – July 6, 2005) was an

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

scholar A scholar is a person who is a researcher or has expertise in an academic discipline. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researcher at a university. An academic usually holds an advanced degree or a termina ...

farmer A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer ...

, and

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...

pioneer who was co-founder of Tripod.com, one of the first and most successful dot-coms, in 1992. (It was subsequently sold to

Lycos Lycos, Inc. (stylized as LYCOS), is a web search engine and web portal established in 1994, spun out of Carnegie Mellon University. Lycos also encompasses a network of email, web hosting, social networking, and entertainment websites. The company ...

in 1998) He was also a co-founder of Eziba (later acquired by

Overstock.com Beyond, Inc. (formerly known as Overstock, Inc.) is an American internet retailer, online retailer that owns the "Bed Bath & Beyond" brand except for within Mexico and the "Overstock" brand, and runs online stores named with those brands. The M ...

), an Internet venture which sold handcrafted goods from artisans around the world. He was a professor emeritus of economics at

Williams College Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim ...

, and previously taught at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

, and

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

. He was a leading figure in building the Internet economy of

Williamstown, Massachusetts Williamstown is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It shares a border with Vermont to the north and New York to the west. Located in Berkshire County, the town is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts metropolitan statis ...

, where the Green River ran past enough digital businesses in the dot-com era to earn the nickname "Silicon River" He was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and attended college at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

and completed his doctorate at

. He subsequently worked for ten years at the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

and was also a senior advisor to the

Inter-American Development Bank The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB or IADB) is an international development finance institution headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States of America. It serves as one of the leading sources of development financing for the countri ...

and

International Food Policy Research Institute The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) is an international research center focused on agriculture and food systems that provides research-based policy solutions to reduce poverty and end hunger and malnutrition throughout low- ...

. He wrote or edited a dozen books on development economics and was co-author of several influential papers in the field, including ''The East Asian Miracle: Economic Growth and Public Policy''. He served on the board of directors of several companies including

Geekcorps Geekcorps is a non-profit organization that sends people with technical skills to developing countries to assist in computer infrastructure development. The non-profit was created in 2000 by Ethan Zuckerman and Elisa Korentayer in North Adams, ...

, and the International Executive Service Corps. He was an active member of the executive board of the

Center for Global Development The Center for Global Development (CGD) is a nonprofit think tank based in Washington, D.C., and London that focuses on international development. History It was founded in November 2001 by former senior U.S. official Edward W. Scott, directo ...

; an Honorary Fellow of Pembroke College,

(UK); and a member of the Boards of Overseers of the College of Arts and Sciences of the

and of

Colby College Colby College is a private liberal arts college in Waterville, Maine, United States. Founded in 1813 as the Maine Literary and Theological Institution, it was renamed Waterville College in 1821. The donations of Christian philanthropist Gardner ...

. At the time of his death, Sabot was launching a new business, Cricket Creek Farm, focused on producing organic milk and specialty cheeses. He died in 2005, aged 61, of a heart attack near his home in

, and was survived by his wife, Jude Sabot and their four children.

External links

Obituary in Berkshire Eagle

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sabot, Dick 1944 births 2005 deaths Economists from New York (state) American computer businesspeople Businesspeople from New York City People from Williamstown, Massachusetts University of Pennsylvania alumni Alumni of the University of Oxford Williams College faculty Yale University faculty Columbia University faculty American male non-fiction writers Center for Global Development Economists from Massachusetts 20th-century American economists 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American male writers