Susan Athey

Bio

Susan Athey is the Economics of Technology Professor at Stanford Graduate School of Business. She received her bachelor’s degree from Duke University and her PhD from Stanford, and she holds an honorary doctorate from Duke University. She is an elected member of the National Academy of Science, and in 2007 she received the John Bates Clark Medal, awarded to the best American economist under the age of 40. She previously taught at the economics departments at MIT, Stanford and Harvard. Her current research focuses on the economics of digitization, marketplace design, and the intersection of econometrics and machine learning. She has worked on several application areas, including timber auctions, internet search, online advertising, the news media, and the application of digital technology to social impact applications. As one of the first “tech economists,” she served as consulting chief economist for Microsoft Corporation for six years, and now serves on the boards of Expedia, Lending Club, Rover, Turo, and Ripple, as well as non-profit Innovations for Poverty Action. She also serves as a long-term advisor to the British Columbia Ministry of Forests, helping architect and implement their auction-based pricing system. She is the founding director of the Golub Capital Social Impact Lab at Stanford GSB, and associate director of the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence.

Highlights:

• Undergrad at Duke in math, CS & econ; PhD at Stanford; previously taught at MIT and Harvard, now Economics of Technology Professor at Stanford
• First woman to win the John Bates Clark Medal for the best American economist under the age of 40
• Winner of other major honors such as election to the National Academy of Science in U.S.
• Pioneer as a tech economist, including a stint as consulting chief economist of Microsoft and now on the board of Expedia, Lending Club, and several private tech firms
• Associate director of Stanford Institute of Human Centered AI
• Founded a lab for using technology and AI to solve problems of social impact

Academic Degrees

• PhD, Economics, Stanford Graduate School of Business, 1995
• BA, Economics, Computer Science, and Mathematics, Duke University, 1991

Academic Appointments

• Professor, Stanford University Graduate School of Business , 2013-present
• Professor of Economics, Harvard, 2006-2012
• Holbrook Working Professor of Economics, Stanford, 2004-2006
• Associate Professor of Economics, Stanford, 2001-2003
• Castle Krob Career Development Associate Professor of Economics, MIT, 1998-2001
• Assistant Professor of Economics, MIT, 1995-1997

Awards and Honors

• Von Neumann Prize, Rajk László College for Advanced Studies, 2019
• Fellow, International Association of Applied Econometrics, elected 2019
• Fellow, Game Theory Society, elected 2017
• Jean-Jacques Laffont Prize, 2016
• Codirector, Digital Business: Data, Decisions & Platform Strategy Initiative, Stanford GSB, 2015
• Spence Faculty Fellow, Stanford GSB, 2013-2014
• Fellow, Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory, 2013
• Member, National Academy of Science, elected 2012
• Honorary degree, Duke University, 2009
• Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, elected 2008
• John Bates Clark Medal, 2007
• Fellow, Econometric Society, elected 2004
• Guggenheim Faculty Scholar, Stanford University, 2004-2006
• Elaine Bennett Research Award, 2001
• Sloan Foundation Research Fellow, 2000
• Undergraduate Economics Association Teaching Award, 1995-1996
• Review of Economic Studies Tour, 1995
• Stanford University Lieberman Fellow, 1994-1995
• State Farm Dissertation Award in Business, 1994
• National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship, 1991-1994
• Jaedicke Scholar, Stanford Graduate School of Business, 1992-1993
• Mary Love Collins Scholarship, Chi Omega Foundation, 1991-1992
• Duke University Alice Baldwin Memorial Scholarship, 1990-1991