Origins & Early Life

Robert Merton Solow (; August 23, 1924 – December 21, 2023) was an American economist known for his studies of economic growth and the development of the Solow–Swan model, for which he won the 1987 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. He was Institute Professor Emeritus of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he was a professor from 1949 on. He was awarded the John Bates Clark Medal in 1961, the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1987, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2014. Four of his PhD students, George Akerlof, Joseph Stiglitz, Peter Diamond, and William Nordhaus, later received Nobel Memorial Prizes in Economic Sciences in their own right.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

Robert Solow was born in Brooklyn, New York, into a Jewish family on August 23, 1924, the oldest of three children. He attended local public school and excelled academically early in life. In September 1940, Solow went to Harvard College with a scholarship at the age of 16. At Harvard, his first studies were in sociology and anthropology as well as elementary economics. In 1942, Solow left the university and joined the U.S.

Enduring Legacy & Impact

Army where he served in the Signal Corps. Because he...

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