The Robert Rosenthal Memorial Lecture series was founded by the Rosenthal family in honor of Bob Rosenthal, a prominent and beloved faculty member in the Economics Department for many years. The annual lecture usually takes place in late March or April and features a prominent economist chosen by the graduate students. The lecture also provides an opportunity for students to meet with the speaker, share their research ideas, and gain valuable insight. Past speakers have included Ariel Rubinstein (2008), Alvin Roth (2007), and Jean Tirole (2006).
To learn more about Bob Rosenthal’s life and work, please read Roy Radner and Debraj Ray’s tribute published in the Journal of Economic Theory in 2003.
2024 Rosenthal Memorial Lecture
“Contracting for Coordination”
Marina Halac
Yale University
2023 Rosenthal Memorial Lecture
“Still Worth the Trip? The Evolution of School Busing in Boston”
Professor Parag Pathak
MIT
2022
“The Evolution of Social Networks, Homophily, and Some Behavioral Consequences”
Matthew Jackson
Stanford University
2021
“Misspecified Politics and the Recurrence of Populism”
Professor Gilat Levy
London School of Economics
2020
“Platforms, Aggregators and Intermediaries”
Susan Athey
Stanford Graduate School of Business
2019
“Beyond the Vickrey Auction: Practical Design for Large, High-Stakes Auctions”
Paul Milgrom
Shirley and Leonard Ely Professor of Humanities and Sciences, Stanford University
2018
“Size Matters: Small and Large groups in Conflict”
Debraj Ray
Julius Silver Professor of Economics, New York University
2017
“Errors in Social Inference: Models and Implications”
Matthew Rabin
Pershing Square Professor of Behavioral Economics, Harvard University
Please contact Norma Hardeo (hardeo@bu.edu / 617-353-4623) for more info.
2016
“Internet Markets: Search, Pricing and Trust”
Jonathan Levin
Holbrook Working Professor of Price Theory, Stanford University
2015
“Calibrated Uncertainty”
Faruk Gul
Professor of Economics, Princeton University
2014
“Information Aggregation in Large Markets”
Asher Wolinsky
The Gordon Fulcher Professor of Economics at Northwestern University
2013
“Sequential Equilibria of Multi-Stage Games with Infinite Sets of Types and Actions”
Philip J. Reny
The William C. Norby Professor in Economics and the College, University of Chicago
2012
“Women’s Rights and Development”
Raquel Fernandez
New York University
2011
“Elections and Strategic Voting: Condorcet and Borda”
Eric Maskin
Albert O. Hirschman Professor of Social Science, Institute for Advanced Study, visiting lecturer with the rank of Professor at Princeton University
2010
“Decision Making Under Uncertainty”
Douglas Gale
Professor of Economics, New York University
2009
“Effecting Cooperation”
Andrew Postlewaite
Harry P. Kamen Professor of Economics and Professor of Finance, University of Pennsylvania
2008
“On the Pragmatics of Persuasion: A Game Theoretic Approach”
Ariel Rubinstein
Tel Aviv and New York Universities
2007
“What Have We Learned From Market Design”
Alvin E. Roth
George Gund Professor of Economics and Business Administration, Harvard University
2006
“Economic Incentives, Self Motivation, and Social Pressure”
Jean Tirole
Institut d’Economie Industrielle, Toulouse, and MIT