Dr. Tarun Kumar Mukherjee

Dr. Tarun Kumar Mukherjee, 78, of Metairie, Louisiana, passed away on Tuesday, June 11, 2024. Born on September 22, 1945 in Rampurhat, West Bengal, India to Kali Charan and Sushila Mukherjee, Tarun (known to his beloved family as “Bablu”) grew up in a loving family of 6 brothers and 4 sisters. His parents instilled in him (and his siblings) the importance of hard work, family and education. Tarun spoke often of his parents, who sacrificed a great deal to ensure that he and his siblings received the best education possible.

After immigrating to the United States in 1971, Tarun earned his M.B.A. from Appalachian State University and then his D.B.A. in Finance from Texas Tech University in 1977. He started his career teaching Finance at The University of Nevada, Las Vegas and then joined the faculty of the University of New Orleans in 1981. He was granted tenure in 1985 and remained at UNO until the time of his passing, teaching corporate finance, specifically capital budgeting, dividend policy, and mergers and acquisitions. At the time of his death, Tarun was serving as the Moffett Chair in Financial Economics.

Tarun was a respected scholar, mentor and educator. During his more than 40-year tenure at UNO, Tarun educated thousands of students and helped to build many successful programs, including the Ph.D. program in financial economics and the MS program in finance. He was also a prolific writer; his publications appeared in numerous finance and accounting research publications. His article "A Survey of Corporate Leasing Analysis" is among the 25 most frequently referenced Financial Management articles in 16 leading corporate finance textbooks. He found his passion in finance, calling it his destiny to do work he genuinely enjoyed.

A true believer in opportunity for all, Tarun cared deeply for his university, his colleagues and his students. At UNO, Tarun established the Kali C. and Sushila B. Mukherjee Student-Managed Fund and the Kali and Sushila Mukherjee Trading Lab, with the mission of providing UNO finance students with real-world experience in portfolio management. He also established The Kali Charan Mukherjee Endowed Scholarship in Finance, a renewable $1,000 a year scholarship, for students majoring in finance.

In his life, Tarun was proudest of his two beautiful grandsons Landon and Andrew Mukherjee, who bought him immeasurable joy. He was widely known by his family and friends for his generous, loyal and kind spirit. Tarun always prioritized participating in special moments with his family members in the United States and India.

Tarun is preceded in death by his parents Kali Charan and Sushila Mukherjee, his brothers Dilip Mukherjee (Bandana) and Asim Mukherji, and his sisters Bela Banerjee (Dhiren), Jyotsna Chatterjee (Bankim) and Kalpana Chatterjee (Tapan). He is survived by his oldest son Neal Mukherjee and wife Janna Mukherjee of Waxhaw, North Carolina, and their sons Landon and Andrew; his younger son Jay Mukherjee of Hillsboro, Oregon; his brothers Tridib Mukherjee (Debi), Arun Mukherjee (Ibha) and Kalyan Mukherjee (Ajanta); his sister Alpana Banerjee (Shyamal); his sister-in-law Anju Mukherji and his former wife Norma Mukherjee - along with many nieces, nephews, great nieces and great nephews.

Visitation will be held Friday, June 21 from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM at Lake Lawn Metairie Funeral Home, 5100 Pontchartrain Blvd, New Orleans, Louisiana 70124, followed by a service on Saturday, June 22 at 10:00 AM.

The family invites you to share your thoughts, fond memories, and condolences online at www.lakelawnmetairie.com