Alvin E. Roth

Alvin Roth is known for his ability and expertise at applying economic theories to real-world problems. The George Gund Professor of Economics and Business Administration in the Department of Economics at Harvard University, his research, teaching and consulting interests are in game theory, experimental economics and market design.

In 2012, Roth won the Nobel Prize in Economics jointly with Lloyd Shapley for the theory of stable allocations and market design. Beginning in the 1980s, Roth used Shapley's theoretical results to explain how markets function in practice. Through empirical studies and lab experiments, Roth and his colleagues demonstrated that stability was critical to successful matching methods. These findings lead to Roth’s most well-known work to redesign the National Resident Matching Program. This system has helped approximately 20,000 doctors a year find their first employment as residents at American hospitals. Roth also designed the high school matching system used in New York City and Boston to pair approximately 90,000 students to high schools each year, starting with students entering high school in the Fall.

Roth is one of the founders of the New England Program for Kidney Exchange, which registers and matches compatible kidney donors with recipients. He has authored many scholarly articles, books and other publications during his career as an economist, including Game Theory in the Tradition of Bob Wilson (2001), which he edited with two colleagues. Roth holds numerous fellowships as he is an Alfred P. Sloan Fellow, a Guggenheim Fellow and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He belongs to the National Bureau of Economic Research and the Econometric Society.

Roth earned his undergraduate degree in Operations research at Columbia University and completed his graduate work, both a masters and Ph.D. in Operations research, at Stanford. In his enlightening speeches, Roth provides comprehensive pictures of the new developments in the theories he has mastered as well as how audiences can apply them to real world situations.