Jonathan Levin (economist)

American economist (born 1972) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jonathan David Levin (born November 17, 1972) is an American economist, currently serving as the 13th president of Stanford University since August 2024. He served as the 10th dean of the Stanford Graduate School of Business from 2016 to 2024.[1]

Quick facts 13th President of Stanford University, Preceded by ...
Jonathan Levin
Levin in 2021
13th President of Stanford University
Assumed office
August 1, 2024
Preceded byRichard Saller
10th Dean of Stanford Graduate School of Business
In office
September 1, 2016  July 31, 2024
PresidentMarc Tessier-Lavigne
Richard Saller
Preceded byGarth Saloner
Succeeded bySarah Soule
Personal details
Born (1972-11-17) November 17, 1972 (age 53)
Children3
Parent
EducationStanford University (BA, BS)
Nuffield College, Oxford (MPhil)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (PhD)
Websitepresident.stanford.edu
Scientific career
AwardsJohn Bates Clark Medal (2011)
FieldsEconomics
InstitutionsStanford University
ThesisRelational contracts, incentives and information (1999)
Bengt Holmstrom
Website
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Levin is known for his research in industrial organization, particularly in the areas of market design, antitrust economics, and the economics of contracting.

Early life and education

Levin received a Bachelor of Arts in English and a Bachelor of Science in mathematics from Stanford University in 1994. He then received a Master of Philosophy in economics from Nuffield College, Oxford, in 1996 and a Ph.D. in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1999.[2]

Career

Levin was a postdoctoral scholar at the Cowles Foundation at Yale University. He joined Stanford as an assistant professor in 2000 and became a full professor in 2008.

His research is in the fields of Microeconomic Theory and Industrial Organization. From 2016 until July 31, 2024, he was the Philip H. Knight Professor and Dean of Stanford Graduate School of Business, becoming the President of Stanford University on August 1, 2024. He was the Holbrook Working Professor of Price Theory in the Department of Economics at Stanford and chair of Stanford Department of Economics from 2011 to 2014. From 2021 to 2025, he was a member of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST).[3]

On April 4, 2024, the Stanford University Board of Trustees announced Levin would become Stanford's 13th president, effective August 1, 2024.[4] Levin succeeds Richard Saller, who has served as Stanford's president on an interim basis since September 2023 after the resignation of Marc Tessier-Lavigne. Levin was ceremonially inaugurated to the Presidency on September 27, 2024. Levin is the first Stanford president since 1968 to have a Stanford degree.[5]

Awards and honors

Levin has received over a dozen honors and awards. He was awarded the 2011 John Bates Clark Medal[6][7] as the outstanding American economist under the age of 40, regarded as the most distinguished economic title after the Nobel Prize.

Some of his other notable achievements include:

  • John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship, 2014
  • American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, Best Paper Award, 2014
  • Kavli Frontiers of Science Symposium, 2006
  • Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship, 2004–2006
  • George Webb Medley Thesis Prize, Oxford, 1996

Personal life

Jonathan Levin is Jewish.[8] Levin lives in Palo Alto with his wife, Amy, a physician, and their three children.[9]

He is the son of former Yale University President Rick Levin.[10][11]

References

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