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Harvard professor with Grove Hill ties wins prestigious economics award
A story in the Wall Street Journal Saturday detailed the news: "The American Economic Association announced Friday that Susan Athey, a 36-year-old professor at Harvard University with professional interests ranging from deepest economic theory to Canadian timber auctions, had won the prestigious John Bates Clarke medal, awarded every two years to the nation's most promising economist under the age of 40. No woman had won the medal in its 60-year history." She is the daughter of the former Betty Blair and the granddaughter of the late Howard and Nell Blair. The Wall Street Journal's article noted that while past recipients have been selected based on particular economic research, this award was for the "breadth, depth and impact of [a]…wideranging body of work. They also saw it as an important signal of encouragement to other women, both already in the field and considering economics as a career." The award doesn't carry great financial prizes but there are other awards. Out of 29 previous winners, 11 have gone on to win the Nobel Prize in economics. Some have had major roles in government and as writers. "I'm amazed and thrilled," Athey told the Wall Street Journal. "It's hard to believe my name will be added to such a distinguished list." The Wall Street Journal called her a "rising star in economics" since she authored her doctoral dissertation in 1995. She has worked at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University and last year joined Harvard University. She got the attention of many in the economics profession when as a 24-year-old working on her Ph.D. dissertation, she developed a technique that allows economists to better understand how uncertainty affects the behavior of investors, businesses and the entire community.
She is married to fellow Harvard economist Guido Imbens and they have two young children.
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