Becker, Gary S. (1930-)

Gary S. Becker is a professor of economics and sociology at the University of Chicago. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in economics in 1992 for “having extended the domain of microeconomic analysis to a wide range of human behavior and interaction, including nonmarket behavior.”

Becker received his undergraduate degree in 1951 from Princeton University and his PhD in 1955 from the University [Page 29]of Chicago. He was an assistant professor at Chicago from 1954 to 1957, before moving to Columbia University and the National Bureau of Economic Research. “I felt that I would become intellectually more independent if I left the nest and had to make it on my own,” Becker has written. “I have always believed this was the correct decision, for I developed ...