Michel TERRAZA

1948–2020

Michel Terraza was respected and deeply involved in the life of the Faculty of Economics. After obtaining his doctorate in economics in 1981 under the supervision of Professor Jean-Pierre Vignau, Michel Terraza became an assistant professor in 1983 before joining the faculty of the Faculty of Economics in Montpellier in 1985. In 1995, he passed the university professor competitive examination and joined the University of Perpignan, where he became director of the economics department and vice-dean of the Faculty of Law. In 1999, he was transferred to the Faculty of Economics at the University of Montpellier, where he remained until his retirement in 2017.He held numerous administrative positions, reflecting his deep involvement in the university community. At ISEM, he joined the board of directors, headed the IUP Commerce-Vente program for seven years, and then the Master's in Customer Relationship Engineering program for more than 10 years. At the Faculty of Economics, he headed the Master's program in Market Risk Analysis from 2008 to 2017 and was involved in several scientific institutions such as the Association of Applied Econometrics, the Vineyard Data Quantification Society, the French Statistical Society, the French Wine Industry Observatory, and the French Finance Association.Michel Terraza was a teacher and researcher respected by all. He was a member of the CEPE (Center for Econometrics for Business), which he founded, then of the LAMTA, which became the LAMETA, and later joined the MRE. He contributed greatly to the growth of econometrics within the Faculty of Economics and passed on his passion for statistical methods to generations of students. His book on time series econometrics, written in collaboration with Régis Bourbonnais, remains a reference in the field. His rigor, intellectual rigor, attentive listening, and human and pedagogical qualities were highly praised by both his students and colleagues.A researcher with a passion for financial econometrics, agricultural market analysis, and the measurement of wage inequality, he leaves behind a significant scientific output of 120 contributions. He supervised the research work of more than 30 doctoral students, many of whom went on to become teachers and researchers themselves, and participated in numerous thesis and research supervision accreditation juries. His proactive approach to organizing numerous conferences, both in France and abroad, helped forge links with many universities, such as in Spain with Professors X. Litago and L. Judez of the Institute of Agricultural Engineers, or in Italy and the United States with Professors Camilo Dagum and Walter Labys, whom he sponsored for their honorary doctorates. 

• Professor Emeritus

RESEARCH AREAS

• Econometric methods