Origins & Early Life

George Arthur Akerlof (born June 17, 1940) is an American economist and a university professor at the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University and Koshland Professor of Economics Emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley. Akerlof was awarded the 2001 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, jointly with Michael Spence and Joseph Stiglitz, "for their analyses of markets with asymmetric information." He is the husband of former United States Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen. Akerlof was born in New Haven, Connecticut, on June 17, 1940. His mother was Rosalie Clara Grubber (née Hirschfelder), a housewife of German Jewish descent, and his father was Gösta Carl Åkerlöf, a chemist and inventor, who was a Swedish immigrant.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

George has an older brother, Carl, a physics professor at the University of Michigan. Akerlof attended Princeton Day School, before he graduated from the Lawrenceville School in 1958. He received a bachelor's degree in economics from Yale University in 1962, and earned his PhD in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1966. His dissertation was titled Wages and Capital under the supervision...

Enduring Legacy & Impact

The historical impact and works continue to influence the modern world.

Contemporary Figures & Related Historical Timelines

• Abbas Kiarostami — Contemporary (Born in 1940) (1940): Master Iranian filmmaker known for blending fiction and documentary styles.
• Al Pacino — Contemporary (Born in 1940) (1940): Intense American actor celebrated for his powerful stage and screen performances.
• Alan Kay — Contemporary (Born in 1940) (1940): Pioneer of GUI, Object-Oriented Programming, and modern computing paradigms.
• Alan Brooke, 1st Viscount Alanbrooke — Shared historical date (06-17 · Died) (1963): British Field Marshal and Chief of the Imperial General Staff during WWII.
• Alfred Brendel — Shared historical date (06-17 · Died) (2025): Czech-born Austrian pianist, composer, and scholar renowned for Beethoven.
• Andrzej Żuławski — Historical peer (Born in 1940) (1940): Pioneering Polish film director, celebrated for intense art-house cinema.
• Barbara H. Partee — Historical peer (Born in 1940) (1940): Pioneering American linguist known for formal semantics and her work at UMass Amherst.
• Aaliyah — Historical peer (Died in 2001) (2001): Pioneering R&B artist known for redefining urban pop and hip hop sounds.
• Ahmad Shah Massoud — Historical peer (Died in 2001) (2001): Afghan military leader, known as the "Lion of Panjshir", fought against foreign occupations.
• Alec Baldwin — Historical peer (Born in 1958) (1958): Versatile American actor known for dramatic depth and comedic timing.
• 1940 Historical Timeline & Archive — Explore world events and figures from 1940
• June 17 (06-17) On This Day — Historical birthdays and events on June 17