Philipp Strack, a scholar of microeconomic theory who has achieved key advances in the field of game theory and behavioral economics, was recently appointed the Cowles Foundation Professor of Economics, effective immediately.
Strack is a member of Yale’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) in the Department of Economics.
He joined the FAS faculty in 2019, having previously held a faculty position at the University of California, Berkeley.
Strack, who works in microeconomic theory, has advanced behavioral economics by examining the limits of behavioral theories and by showing the care needed to interpret and measure empirical facts. His accomplishments include contributions to studies of mechanism design and decision-making, particularly in settings that involve learning and information transmission; the formalization of ideas, such as information cost functions or notions of privacy, so that these concepts can be more fruitfully applied; and the development of a new analytical approach to mechanism design. This work has challenged conventional wisdom and significantly pushed the boundaries of theories of decision-making and behavioral economics outward and represents a new wave of the economics of information.
In recognition of the influence of this scholarship, he was awarded the 2024 John Bates Clark Medal by the American Economic Association — the highest honor bestowed on an economist under the age of 40. In addition, he received the 2023 Bodossaki Young Scientist Award, was named a Fellow of the Econometric Society in 2022, and was awarded a 2019 Sloan Fellowship.
He has given invited talks at Cambridge, Carnegie Mellon, MIT, Stanford, Princeton, and other institutions in the United States and beyond. His work has been published in top journals in his field, including Econometrica, American Economic Review, Theoretical Economics, Review of Economic Studies, and others.
Strack has a distinguished record of service in the field: He serves on program committees for major conferences, and as associate editor for the American Economic Journal: Microeconomics and Mathematical Operations Research. At Yale, he has served as the inaugural Director of Undergraduate Studies for the new Computer Science and Economics major since 2019, and as co-director of the Cowles Foundation’s Theory program. He offers courses on general economic theory, mathematical game theory, mechanism design, behavioral taxation, the economics of blockchains, and a range of other topics.
Strack earned his Ph.D. in economics from the Bonn Graduate School of Economics.
