Sendhil Mullainathan | |
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![]() Mullainathan in 2014 | |
Born | c. 1973 (age 50–51) |
Citizenship | United States |
Alma mater | Cornell University (B.A.) Harvard University (Ph.D.) |
Known for | Behavioral economics Development economics Corporate finance |
Awards | MacArthur Fellow |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Economics, Behavioral economics |
Institutions | MIT 2024– University of Chicago Booth School of Business 2018–2024 Harvard University 2004–2018 MIT 1999–2004 |
Doctoral advisor | Drew Fudenberg Lawrence Katz Andrei Shleifer |
Doctoral students | Ebonya Washington[1] Benjamin Jones |
Sendhil Mullainathan () (born c. 1973) is an American professor of Computation and Behavioral Science at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and the author of Scarcity: Why Having Too Little Means So Much[2] (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.[3] 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.[4] In 2024, he moved back to MIT as a professor on joint appointment between the Department of Economics and the School of Engineering.[5]