PrincetonUniversity
 

Kahneman wins Nobel Prize

Kahneman has been the Eugene Higgins Professor of Psychology and professor of public affairs in the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University since 1993.

In its announcement, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences cited Kahneman "for having integrated insights from psychological research into economic science, especially concerning human judgment and decision-making under uncertainty." Kahneman's work, it said, has laid the foundation for a new field of research by discovering how human judgment may take shortcuts that systematically depart from basic principles of probability.

Kahneman was awarded the economics prize along with Vernon Smith, a professor of economics and law at George Mason University. Kahneman and Smith will share the $1 million prize money.

"We are honored to have Professor Kahneman on our faculty, and delighted that his work has gained this important international recognition," said Princeton President Shirley M. Tilghman.

Upon hearing of the award, Kahneman said, "I am much honored of course to receive the Nobel Prize in economic sciences. I am also keenly aware that such an honor seldom reflects the contributions of a single individual. This is particularly true in my case, since the award is given largely for work that I did many years ago with my close friend and colleague, Amos Tversky, who died in 1996. The thought of his missing this day saddens me.

"Together we developed an approach to the study of judgment and decision-making that gained some influence in psychology and economics," he continued. "Many others have contributed as well. The Nobel award in economic sciences is given in recognition of ideas that have been influential in some field of economics. In this case, the award reflects the remarkable success of an approach known as behavioral economics, which is pushing the frontiers of research by introducing psychologically realistic models of economic agents into economic theory."

Editors: A news release is now online. More information about the award is available on the Nobel site.

Including Kahneman, nine members of the current Princeton faculty and research staff have been recipients of a Nobel Prize. A list of Princeton University's Nobel Prize winners is also online.

Daniel Kahneman attended a celebration in his honor in Robertson Hall

photos: Denise Applewhite