Three recent Econ grads have have been afforded special recognition for their dissertations. Ellora Derenoncourt has been awarded the David A. Wells Prize, while Shoshana Vasserman and Valentin Bolotnyy were awarded the Padma Desai Prize in Economics.

Ellora Derenoncourt's research interests are in labor economics and economic history. She combines quasi-experimental methods with original data collection from historical sources to understand the long-run determinants of inequality. Her current research focuses on the evolution of racial inequality in the US, including how...

Emi is currently the Chancellor’s Professor of Economics at U.C. Berkeley, and was cited by the AEA award committee for her contributions to macroeconomics.... Read more about Congratulations also to Emi Nakamura, a 2007 PhD from the Harvard Economics Department, Winner of the 2019 Clark Medal!