University of Pittsburgh
April 14, 2005

M.I.T. Professor and Economist Daron Acemoglu to Speak at Pitt

Contact: 

PITTSBURGH—Daron Acemoglu, a renowned expert in political economy and economic growth and the Charles P. Kindleberger Professor of Applied Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.), will deliver a lecture at 2:30 p.m. April 29 in the Assembly Room of the William Pitt Union, 3959 Fifth Ave., Oakland.

Acemoglu's talk, which is the 10th Annual Marion O'Kellie McKay Lecture, is titled "Rethinking the Wealth of Nations." It is free and open to the public.

An M.I.T faculty member since 1993, Acemoglu has been a lecturer at the London School of Economics and is a member of the Economic Growth Program of the Canadian Institute of Advanced Research. His work covers a wide range of areas, from income and wage inequality to human capital and training. He wrote a series of papers that attempted to disentangle the relationship between strong governmental institutions and economic development. The research revealed that laws in rich countries that protect property and limit executive powers contribute to their prosperity.

Acemoglu's work has been published in leading scholarly journals, including the American Economic Review and the Journal of Political Economy. He is the editor of the Review of Economics and Statistics and associate editor of the Journal of Economic Growth. He received the Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from the University of York and both the Master of Science in mathematical economics and econometrics and the Ph.D. in economics degrees at the London School of Economics. He has been the recipient of many awards and honors, including the inaugural T.W. Schulz Prize, awarded to him for "exceptional work by an economist in early or mid-career."

The lecture series is named for Marion McKay, who was chair of Pitt's Department of Economics for more than 30 years. For more information, call 412-648-1765.

###

4/15/05/tmw