Fulbright Program Alumni Win Nobel Prize

Two U.S. alumni of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ Fulbright Program, Joseph E. Stiglitz of Columbia University and George A. Akerlof of the University of California at Berkeley, were honored at a White House reception on Tuesday celebrating their 2001 Nobel Prize in economics. President Bush recognized the Nobel laureates for using their "great gifts" to the fullest in their contributions to society. Stiglitz and Akerlof’s contributions form the core of modern information economics.

Stiglitz, who was Chief Economist and Senior Vice President for the World Bank (1997-99) and Chair of the President's Council of Economic Advisors (1995-97), and Akerlof, since 1994 senior non-resident fellow at the Brookings Institution, both earned doctorates in economics from MIT in 1966 and were awarded Fulbright fellowships at the beginning of their careers. Stiglitz was a Fulbright Fellow in economics at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom (1969-70). Akerlof was a Fulbright Scholar at the Indian Statistical Institute in New Delhi (1967-68). Stiglitz and Akerlof, who share this year's Nobel Prize in economics with A. Michael Spence of Stanford University, "laid the foundation for a general theory of markets with asymmetric information" during the 1970s.

"The Fulbright Program played a pivotal role in my professional development, both by providing me with an opportunity to broaden my intellectual horizons, studying with some of the world’s leading economists at Cambridge University, and enabling me to see the world through quite different perspectives," said Joseph Stiglitz. "Some of the research collaborations I began during that year have lasted over the following three decades. The international perspectives served me well, especially when I became Chief Economist and Senior Vice President of the World Bank."

This is the second consecutive year in which the Nobel Prize has been awarded to an alumnus of the Department of State's Fulbright Program. Dr. Alan G. MacDiarmid of the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Texas at Dallas received the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 2000. Dr. Stiglitz, Dr. Akerlof and Dr. MacDiarmid join a distinguished group of 27 Fulbright Program alumni from seven countries who have been awarded the Nobel Prize for their contributions to humanity in the fields of chemistry, economics, medicine and physics (see attached list).

The Department of State's Fulbright Program promotes mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries through educational and cultural exchange. Since the Program's inception in 1946, more than 250,000 Fulbright grantees from 140 countries have had the opportunity to teach, study, or conduct research while exchanging ideas and developing joint solutions to shared problems.

Media contact: Catherine Stearns, (202) 203-5107 or email cstearns@pd.state.gov

Department of State Fulbright Program alumni who are Nobel Laureates:

Dr. George A. Akerlof – USA, Economics 2001
Fulbright Scholar in India, 1967-68

Dr. Joseph Stiglitz – USA, Economics 2001
Fulbright Fellow in the United Kingdom, 1969-70

Dr. Alan G. MacDiarmid – New Zealand, Chemistry 2000
Fulbright Fellow at the University of Wisconsin, 1950

Dr. Douglass C. North – USA, Economics 1993
Fulbright Scholar

Dr. Erwin Neher – Germany, Medicine 1991
Fulbright Fellow at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, 1966

Dr. Trygve Haavelmo – Norway, Economics 1989
Fulbright Scholar at the University of Chicago, 1957-58

Dr. Susumu Tonegawa – Japan, Medicine 1987
Fulbright Fellow at the University of California, San Diego, 1963

Dr. James M. Buchanan – USA, Economics 1986
Fulbright Scholar in Italy, 1955-56; in the United Kingdom, 1961-62

Dr. Franco Modigliani – USA, Economics 1985
Fulbright Scholar in Italy, 1961-62

Dr. Carlo Rubbia – Italy, Physics 1984
Fulbright Fellow at Columbia University, 1958-59

Dr. William Alfred Fowler – USA, Physics 1983
Fulbright Fellow in England, 1954-55

Dr. Bengt Samuelsson – Sweden, Medicine 1982
Fulbright Scholar at Harvard University, 1961

Dr. Philip W. Anderson – USA, Physics 1977
Fulbright Scholar in Japan, 1953-54

Dr. Rosalyn S. Yalow – USA, Medicine 1977
Fulbright Scholar

Dr. Milton Friedman – USA, Economics 1976
Fulbright Scholar in the United Kingdom, 1953-54

Dr. Wassily Leontief – USA, Economics 1973
Fulbright Scholar in France, 1961-62

Dr. Paul Samuelson – USA, Economics 1970
Fulbright Scholar in Asia, 1972

Dr. Hannes Alfven – Sweden, Physics 1970
Fulbright Scholar at the University of Maryland, 1954-55

Dr. Lars Onsager – USA, Chemistry 1968
Fulbright Scholar in England, 1951-52

Dr. Hans Bethe – USA, Physics 1967
Fulbright Scholar in the United Kingdom, 1955

Dr. Robert Sanderson Mulliken – USA, Chemistry 1966
Fulbright Scholar in England, 1952-54

Dr. Charles Hard Townes – USA, Physics 1964
Fulbright Scholar in France and Japan, 1955-56; Fulbright Scholar in Europe, 1972

Dr. James D. Watson – USA, Medicine 1962
Fulbright Scholar in Argentina, 1986

Dr. Emilio Segre – USA, Physics 1959
Fulbright Scholar in Italy, 1950

Dr. Joshua Lederberg – USA, Medicine 1958
Fulbright Scholar in Australia, 1957

Dr. Chen Ning Yang – USA, Physics 1957
Fulbright Scholar in Brazil, Venezuela, Poland, Egypt and Malaysia, 1974

Dr. Felix Bloch – USA, Physics 1952
Fulbright Scholar in Israel, 1959

Inquiries about the Fulbright Program may be made to Rhonda E. Boris, U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, (202) 619-4360 or email rboris@pd.state.gov