U.S. Fulbright Alumnus Receives Nobel Prize in Economics

U.S. economist and Fulbright alumnus Leonid Hurwicz is one of three Americans awarded the 2007 Nobel Prize in Economics. Professor Hurwicz's award, announced October 15, is for having laid the foundations of mechanism design theory. Eric Maskin and Roger Myerson are co-recipients for their advancements on this theory. In 1965, Professor Hurwicz traveled to India as a Fulbright Scholar to serve as a visiting professor at Bangalore University. During his Fulbright year, he taught classes at Bangalore University and visited and studied at other Indian institutions of higher education. Professor Hurwicz credits his Fulbright experience as "an important phase in my development and a significant influence in the development of my economic theories."

He is professor emeritus of economics at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. University of Minnesota President Robert Bruininks, a member of the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board, was thrilled to learn about the Nobel Prize and Dr. Hurwicz’s Fulbright connection. "Professor Hurwicz," he said, "has influenced in a very significant and transformative way the study of economics and application of economics to important issues on an international scale."

Professor Hurwicz is the 36th Fulbright alumnus to receive a Nobel Prize.

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2007/10/15/nobelprofile/