Nile Kenya

Daron Acemoglu is the Elizabeth and James Killian Professor of Economics at MIT. In 2005, he received the John Bates Clark Medal, awarded to economists under age forty judged to have made the most significant contribution to economic thought and knowledge. In 2012, he was honored with the Erwin Plein Nemmers Prize in Economics for work of lasting significance, and in 2016, he received the BBVA Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Economics, Finance, and Management for his lifetime contributions.

Acemoglu is widely celebrated for his influential body of work on the role of institutions in economic and political development. His collaborations with James A. Robinson, including the seminal books Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty and The Narrow Corridor: States, Societies, and the Fate of Liberty, have become cornerstones in the study of political economy. These works offer profound insights into how inclusive institutions drive prosperity while extractive systems perpetuate poverty, as well as the delicate balance necessary to sustain liberty. His research has profoundly shaped scholarly and policy discussions around global development and inequality.