York alumnus wins Nobel Prize
Congratulations to Nobel Prize winner and York Economics alumnus, Daron Acemoglu!
Last week, alumnus Daron Acemoglu was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics alongside James A. Robinson and Simon Johnson for studies of how institutions are formed and affect prosperity. The research of Daron’s work will help to understand how societies and institutions that exploit their population do not generate growth.
Daron started his academic studies at York in 1986, where he graduated with an Economics degree in 1989. He then went on to study both at the London School of Economics where he received a PhD at the age of 25.
In 1993, he was appointed as an assistant professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and in 2019 he was named an Institute Professor, which is the highest faculty honour at MIT. Speaking about the prize, Daron said:
"I am deeply honoured by this prize. It's been a long journey, and I always emphasise that it started at York, where I learned so much of the economics I've used throughout my career, and, even more importantly, I learned to value and love academic research."
He has received numerous awards and honours throughout his academic career, and has co-authored several books, including New York Times bestseller Why Nations Fail: Power, Prosperity, and Poverty and more recently Power and Progress: Our Thousand-Year Struggle Over Technology and Prosperity, which was cited by The Guardian as “one of the most important books of the year.”
Among many other accolades, Daron was voted by the readers of current affairs magazine, Prospect, as the world’s top thinker for 2024.
Vice Chancellor of the University, Charlie Jeffery, commented:
“We are immeasurably proud of the distinguished career Professor Daron Acemoglu has gone on to build, and this recognition of his work, which has reshaped thinking on prosperity and equality, with the most prestigious of accolades – a Nobel Prize.”