Acemoğlu, K(amer) Daron (b. September 3, 1967, Istanbul), world-famous economist. In 2017, he was awarded the Rahmi M. Koç Medal of Science by Koç University for his “trailblazing contribution in the fields of macroeconomic growth and development, labor economics, and political economy.”
He completed his elementary education at Kadıköy Aramyan Uncuyan Armenian Elementary School and secondary education at Galatasaray High School (1986) in Istanbul. After graduating from York University Department of Economics (1989), he received a master’s degree at the London School of Economics (LSE) Department of Mathematical Economics and Econometrics (1990) and a PhD from the Department of Economics of the same university (1992). In 1993, he went to the USA to pursue his academic career at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He became a professor in 2000 and is currently serving in the MIT Department of Economics as Elizabeth and James Killian Professor.
Acemoğlu’s main fields of interest are political economy, economic development, economic growth, economic theory, technology, income and wage inequality, human capital and education, labor economics and network economics. His numerous articles were published in international peer-reviewed economics journals and collective works. He wrote the Economic Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy with James A. Robinson, which was published in 2006. His book Why Nations Fail: Origins of Power, Poverty and Prosperity, also co-written with Robinson, was published in 2012 and was on the New York Times bestseller list. As well as these multi-award winning works, he also wrote Introduction to Modern Economic Growth (2009) and Economics (together with David Laibson and John List, 2014).
Among the many awards that Daron Acemoğlu has won are Chicago University T. W. Schultz Prize (2004), American Society of Labor Economics Sherwin Rosen Prize (2004), American Economic Association John Bates Clark Medal (2005), Turkish Academy of Sciences Academy Prize (2006), Rajk László College for Advanced Studies John von Neumann Award (2007), Galatasaray Prize (2012), Northwestern University Erwin Plein Nemmers Prize in Economics (2012), Kadir Has University Kadir Has Lifetime Contribution to Science Award (2013), Turkish Presidential Culture and Arts Grand Award (in the field of social sciences, 2013) and the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award (2016). He has been awarded with honorary doctorate degrees by the École Normale Supérieure in Paris and by Utrecht, Bilkent, Bath, Boğaziçi and Athens Universities.