Sendhil Mullainathan

Sendhil Mullainathan
Mullainathan in 2014
Bornc. 1973 (age 50–51)
CitizenshipUnited States
Alma materCornell University (B.A.)
Harvard University (Ph.D.)
Known forBehavioral economics
Development economics
Corporate finance
AwardsMacArthur Fellow
Scientific career
FieldsEconomics, Behavioral economics
InstitutionsMIT 2024–
University of Chicago Booth School of Business 2018–2024
Harvard University 2004–2018
MIT 1999–2004
Doctoral advisorDrew Fudenberg
Lawrence Katz
Andrei Shleifer
Doctoral studentsEbonya Washington[1]
Benjamin Jones

Sendhil Mullainathan (pronunciation) (born c. 1973) is an American professor of economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.[2] He was a professor of Computation and Behavioral Science at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business from 2018-2024. He is the author of Scarcity: Why Having Too Little Means So Much[3] (with Eldar Shafir). He was hired with tenure by Harvard in 2004 after having spent six years at MIT.

Mullainathan is a recipient of a MacArthur Foundation "genius grant" and conducts research on development economics, behavioral economics, and corporate finance. He is co-founder of Ideas 42, a non-profit organization that uses behavioral science to help solve social problems, and J-PAL, the MIT Poverty Action Lab and has made extensive academic contributions through the National Bureau of Economic Research and has also worked in government at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). In May 2018, he moved from Harvard to the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, becoming the George C. Tiao Faculty Fellow.[4] In November 2018, he received the Infosys Prize (in Social Sciences category), one of the highest monetary awards in India that recognize excellence in science and research, for his contributions to the field of economics, especially behavioral economics.[5] In 2024, he moved back to MIT as a professor on joint appointment between the Department of Economics and the School of Engineering.[6]

  1. ^ Washington, Ebonya (2003), Essays in public finance. Ph.D. dissertation, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
  2. ^ Mullainathan, Sendil (2024). "MIT Economics". MIT Economics People. Retrieved 20 September 2024.
  3. ^ Mullainathan, Sendhil; Shafir, Eldar (2013). Scarcity: why having too little means so much. London: Allen Lane, an imprint of Penguin Books. ISBN 9781846143458.
  4. ^ "Behavioral economist Sendhil Mullainathan to join Booth faculty as University Professor". UChicago News. 21 May 2018. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
  5. ^ "Infosys Prize – Laureates 2018 – Prof. Sendhil Mullainathan". www.infosys-science-foundation.com. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  6. ^ "School of Engineering welcomes new faculty". 23 May 2024.