April 22, 2018: Nepali origin Economist Parag Pathak, a market-design expert who has extensively studied education while developing new policy mechanisms used across the U.S., has been awarded the John Bates Clark Medal for 2018, granted annually to the best economist under the age of 40.
The prestigious award, granted by the American Economic Association (AEA), was announced on Friday afternoon.
In 2005, Boston adopted a new choice mechanism based on research Pathak had been conducting as a PhD student; since then, he has helped design systems in a range of major U.S. cities, including Chicago, Denver, Newark, New Orleans, New York, and Washington.
Pathak received his BA summa cum laude in applied mathematics from Harvard University in 2002, and an MS in the subject the same year. He received his PhD in economics from Harvard in 2007, working with Alvin Roth, a professor with whom Pathak has co-authored papers.
In 2008, Pathak joined the MIT faculty as an assistant professor. He was awarded tenure in 2011 and became a full professor in 2014.
Source: http://news.mit.edu/2018/parag-pathak-wins-john-bates-clark-medal-0420