ABSTRACT
A leading development economist in the postcolonial era, E. Wayne Nafziger was an energetic researcher (sub-Saharan Africa, Japan, India), a prolific author (19 books, many articles and lectures), and an esteemed teacher and graduate student mentor (chair of 22 dissertations). Although his analyses of economic and social development incorporated all the conventional factors of Gross National Product, Gross Domestic Product, monetary and investment policies, class differentiation, and the relationship between agriculture and industrial sectors in national economies, usually in a comparative perspective, he persistently addressed the obstacles to development brought about by inequality, injustice, war, and manipulation by elites of resources to their own benefit at the expense of the marginalized. The values and priorities of his Mennonite upbringing and college education shone through his scientific rigor to offer a nuanced understanding of the importance of empowering and enabling the poor as the most effective path to sustainable development.
