{"id":357741,"date":"2026-06-28T18:28:38","date_gmt":"2026-06-28T12:58:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/?p=357741"},"modified":"2026-06-28T18:28:38","modified_gmt":"2026-06-28T12:58:38","slug":"david-autor-named-head-of-the-department-of-economics-mit-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/2026\/06\/28\/david-autor-named-head-of-the-department-of-economics-mit-news\/","title":{"rendered":"David Autor named head of the Department of Economics | MIT News"},"content":{"rendered":"
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David Autor, the Daniel (1972) and Gail Rubinfeld Professor within the MIT Department of Economics, has been named head of the Department of Economics, effective July 1.<\/p>\n

\u201cDavid is a world-class labor economist,\u201d says Agust\u00edn Rayo, the Kenan Sahin Dean of the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences. \u201cHe can be a person of wisdom and insight. I stay up for welcoming him to the college\u2019s leadership team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Autor\u2019s scholarship explores the labor-market impacts of technological change and globalization on job polarization, skill demands, earnings levels and inequality, and electoral outcomes. He serves as faculty co-director of the\u00a0James M. and Cathleen D. Stone Center on Inequality and Shaping the Way forward for Work<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been at MIT since 1999, and I owe my profession to the Institute, the department, and colleagues who’re as kind as they’re achieved,\u201d Autor says. \u201cMoving into this role is a likelihood to contribute to a spot that has shaped me at every stage.\u201d<\/p>\n

Autor succeeds Jon Gruber, the Ford Professor of Economics, who has served as department head since July 2023.<\/p>\n

Autor says he \u201cgoals to construct on the stellar standard set by its faculty and students while navigating budget tightening and a shifting political landscape.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cJust as vital, I would like to guide the department toward the opportunities that advancing AI is opening in how we teach and what we research,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n

Autor serves as co-director of the\u00a0National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) Labor Studies Program<\/a>. He earned a BA in psychology from Tufts University in 1989 and a PhD in public policy from Harvard University\u2019s Kennedy School of Government in 1999.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Autor has received quite a few awards for each his scholarship \u2014 the National Science Foundation CAREER Award, an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Fellowship, the Sherwin Rosen Prize for outstanding contributions to the sector of Labor Economics, the Andrew Carnegie Fellowship in 2019, the Society for Progress Medal in 2021 \u2014 and for his teaching, including the MIT MacVicar Faculty Fellowship,\u00a0the James A. and Ruth Levitan Award for excellence in teaching, the Undergraduate Economic Association Teaching Award, and the Faculty Appreciation Award from the MIT Technology and Policy Program.<\/p>\n

In 2020, Autor received the Heinz twenty fifth Special Recognition Award from the Heinz Family Foundation for his work \u201ctransforming our understanding of how globalization and technological change are impacting jobs and earning prospects for American employees.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

In 2023, Autor was one in all two researchers across all scientific fields who was named a NOMIS Distinguished Scientist.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In 2024, Autor was one in all five senior scholars chosen by the Schmidt Sciences Foundation as an AI2050 Senior Fellow.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

David Autor, the Daniel (1972) and Gail Rubinfeld Professor within the MIT Department of Economics, has been named head of the Department of Economics, effective July 1. \u201cDavid is a world-class labor economist,\u201d says Agust\u00edn Rayo, the Kenan Sahin Dean of the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences. \u201cHe can be a person of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":357742,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[53278,3921,5114,19451,182,1600,395],"class_list":["post-357741","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology","tag-autor","tag-david","tag-department","tag-economics","tag-mit","tag-named","tag-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t