Taron Acemoglu, Born into an Armenian Family, Awarded Nobel Prize

Scientists Taron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson, and James Robinson have been awarded the 2024 Nobel Prize in Economics. The prize was given to the scholars for their research on how institutions are formed and how they affect prosperity.

The laureates have demonstrated that one of the reasons for the differences in levels of prosperity among countries is the public institutions that emerged during the colonial period. The researchers explain in their study why former colonies that were once wealthy have become poor and vice versa.

Taron Acemoglu was born into an Armenian family in Istanbul, graduated from Galatasaray High School, received his bachelor's degree from the University of York, and earned his master's and doctoral degrees from the London School of Economics. Simon Johnson was born in Sheffield, UK, graduated from Oxford, obtained his master's degree from the University of Manchester, and earned his doctorate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. James Robinson holds British citizenship, received his bachelor's degree from the London School of Economics and Political Science, his master's from the University of Warwick, and his doctorate from Yale University.

Acemoglu and Johnson currently work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, while Robinson is at the University of Chicago. Taron Acemoglu and James Robinson are also co-authors of the renowned book "Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty."