MIT names David Autor as inaugural Rubinfeld professor

MIT has announced David Autor as the inaugural recipient of a new economics professorship.

He takes up the new post on July 1, and will be the first holder of the Daniel and Gail Rubinfeld professorship, according to a statement by the university.

Autor’s research has focused on areas including the labor market impacts of technological change and globalization. He is a faculty co-director of a recently launched MIT initiative on the future of work.

He is currently the Ford professor of economics at MIT, and was first awarded a full professorship at in 2008. Prior to that, he was an associate professor, and held a number of visiting appointments.

Autor has received awards for his work including the National Science Foundation CAREER award, an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation fellowship, the Sherwin Rosen Prixr for outstanding contributions to the field of labor economics, and an Andrew Carnegie fellowship.

Commenting on his appointment, Autor said: “I am privileged to be the inaugural holder of the Rubinfeld Professorship in Economics, honoring Daniel Rubinfeld’s illustrious career of scholarship and public service. As the Daniel (1972) and Gail Rubinfeld Professor of Economics, I aim to honor Dan Rubinfeld’s legacy by contributing in both domains.”

The new named professorship at MIT will fund a senior faculty member of the economics department, with a preference for those with research and teaching interests in applied microeconomics.