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Paul A. Samuelson

American economist, MIT Institute Professor and 1970 Nobel Memorial Prize laureate in Economic Sciences.

Massachusetts, United States

Bernard Gotfryd / Library of Congress / Wikimedia CommonsSourcePublic domain

Biography

Paul A. Samuelson (1915–2009) was an American economist born in Gary, Indiana, to a family he described as Jewish immigrants from Poland. After joining the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1940, he was a central figure in establishing its economics department as a global center of study. Samuelson transformed modern economic analysis by applying mathematical methods to the discipline. His 1947 book, “Foundations of Economic Analysis,” and his widely used textbook, “Economics,” shaped the education of generations of economists and students. In 1970, Samuelson received the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel for his work developing static and dynamic economic theory. As the prize was first awarded in 1969, he is recognized as its first Jewish recipient.

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Records held by Paul A. Samuelson

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Awards · Nobel PrizeFirst

First Jewish Recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences

Record holder

Paul A. Samuelson

Record value

10 December 1970

Paul A. Samuelson received the 1970 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel for work that reshaped modern economic theory. The prize had been created only a year earlier, making the predecessor universe unusually compact and auditable. Samuelson’s mathematical approach helped turn economics into a more rigorous analytical discipline, while his textbooks brought economic thinking to millions of students. Official Nobel chronology and independent Jewish biographical evidence together establish him as the first Jewish recipient of the prize. The record captures both a landmark in Jewish achievement and a pivotal moment in the history of twentieth-century economics.

Country represented: United States
Achievement location: Stockholm, United States
Achievement date: 10 December 1970

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