Richard Thaler

Thaler is a theorist in behavioral economics who has collaborated with Daniel Kahneman, Amos Tversky, and others in further defining that field. In 2018, he was elected a member in the National Academy of Sciences. In 2017, he was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his contributions to behavioral economics. In its Nobel prize announcement, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences stated that his "contributions have built a bridge between the economic and psychological analyses of individual decision-making. His empirical findings and theoretical insights have been instrumental in creating the new and rapidly expanding field of behavioral economics." Thaler was born in East Orange, New Jersey to a Jewish family. His mother, Roslyn (Melnikoff, 1921–2008), was a teacher, and later a real estate agent while his father, Alan Maurice Thaler (1917–2004), was an actuary at the Prudential Financial in Newark, New Jersey, and was born in Toronto. He grew up with two younger brothers. His great-great-grandfather, Selig Thaler (1831–1903) was from Berezhany, Ukraine. He has three children from his first marriage and is now married to France Leclerc, a former marketing professor at the University of Chicago and avid photographer.