By Bruce Gerson

Add two more to Carnegie Mellon’s list of faculty and alumni who have earned the most prestigious academic citation in the world, the Nobel Memorial Prize. Call them Carnegie Mellon’s “distinguished dozen.”


The latest members of this elite group are Finn Kydland (TPR’72,’73), an alumnus and professor at the Tepper School of Business, presently on teaching leave at the University of California at Santa Barbara, and Carnegie Mellon alumnus and former Tepper School Professor Edward Prescott (TPR’67). They share the 2004 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences and its cash award of $1.36 million. The Tepper School now boasts six Nobel Prize winners.

In its announcement, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences congratulated Kydland and Prescott for “their contributions to dynamic macroeconomics: the time consistency of economic policy and the driving forces behind business cycles.”

“I am delighted to congratulate Finn and our alumnus and former faculty member Ed Prescott on behalf of the university. They continue a long tradition of path-breaking research in economics at Carnegie Mellon,” said Carnegie Mellon President Jared L. Cohon.

“Professors Kydland and Prescott reshaped the way all economists think,” said Tepper School Dean Kenneth Dunn. “In true Carnegie Mellon style, they applied an analytical, quantitative and interdisciplinary approach to profound economic questions. I congratulate them both on this well-deserved recognition.”

Worldwide Coverage

Finn Kydland’s and Edward Prescott’s Nobel Prize was covered by more than 750 print, broadcast and online news outlets worldwide, including:
• The New York Times
• The Wall Street Journal
• The Chronicle of Higher Education
• Bloomberg News
• The Associated Press
• The Boston Globe
• TheBostonChannel.com
• CBS News
• Chicago Tribune
• The Washington Post
• San Jose Mercury News
• Voice of America
• The Los Angeles Times
• Wired News
• BBC News
• Outlookindia.com
• Turkish Press, Turkey
• Pravda, Russia
• Al-Jazeera, Qatar
• Hindustan Times, India
• Jakarta Post, Indonesia
• Manila Times, Philippines
• Business Report, South Africa
• London Free Press, Canada
• Straits Times, Singapore

Past Carnegie Mellon Nobel Prize Winners

• Clinton J. Davisson, 1937 in physics (faculty)
• Otto Stern, 1943 in physics (faculty)
• Herbert A. Simon, 1978 in economics (faculty)
• Franco Modigliani, 1985 in economics (faculty)
• Merton Miller, 1990 in economics (faculty)
• John F. Nash Jr. (S’48), 1994 in economics
• Clifford Shull (S’37), 1994 in physics
• Robert E. Lucas Jr., 1995 in economics (faculty)
• John Pople, 1998 in chemistry (faculty)
• Walter Kohn, 1998 in chemistry (faculty)


Related Links:
Finn Kydland
Edward Prescott
News Coverage
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences