WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass., July 12, 2006 -- Earl Lester McFarland Jr., professor of economics emeritus at Williams College, died July 9 in Gabarone, Botswana, where he had lived off and on through his adult life. He was 71.

"Earl McFarland was a very effective teacher and a highly popular one both with undergraduates and with graduate fellows at our Center for Development Economics," Williams President Morton Owen Schapiro said. "For many years he successfully taught the introduction to macroeconomics course that was required of all majors."

In addition to teaching at Williams from 1968 to 2001, McFarland applied his knowledge of development economics overseas, particularly in Botswana, where he led the Ministry of Finance and Development's units on macroeconomic planning and employment policy.

"Earl was a major contributor to the analytical work in this very successful ministry for more than 25 years," said Stephen R. Lewis Jr., former president of Carleton College, who also has worked extensively as an economic advisor to Botswana. "He served as a mentor and an example to many young economists. His reserved style made him particularly effective as an expatriate working in a young democracy, and he was widely admired and respected for his skills, his work ethic, and his dedication to Botswana and its people."

McFarland pursued many sports. He was an avid tennis player and runner and a particularly devoted marksman. A member of the National Rifle Association, he competed in benchrest rifle matches throughout the northeast and at one time held a national record in .22-caliber American Rimfire Association "50-50" target shooting. A regular competitor in New Hampshire state and national matches, he was also a trap and pistol shooter and taught pistol shooting.

He was also distinguished by the crew cut hairstyle he maintained through successive waves of fashion and unfashion.

Born June 23, 1935 in Vineland, N.J., he graduated in 1958 from Columbia University where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and won awards for outstanding work in the humanities and for attaining the highest grade point average among varsity athletes.

On a Fulbright Scholarship, he taught English in Quito, Ecuador in 1958-59. He served in El Salvador as a liaison between university students and the U.S. Embassy and taught economics for a year at the Colegio de Mexico in Mexico City. He also served in the U.S. Army before beginning graduate school at Columbia, where he earned his Ph.D. in economics in 1973.

McFarland is survived by his wife Ditsapelo McFarland of Gabarone and former wife Sarah McFarland of Williamstown.

A memorial service is scheduled for Friday, July 14, and funeral on Saturday, July 15, both in Gabarone.

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