Lecture
Friday November 7, 2025 at 4pm.
Erwin Plein Nemmers Prize in Economics
ABOUT THE PRIZE
In 1994, bequests to Northwestern University from the late Erwin Esser Nemmers, a former member of the Northwestern University faculty, and his brother, the late Frederic E. Nemmers, led to the establishment of four endowed professorships in the Kellogg School of Management, and biennial prizes in economics, mathematics, music composition, medical science and earth sciences. The Nemmers family ran a church music publishing house in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The prize in economics is named in honor of the Nemmers' father.
The Nemmers hoped that their prizes would carry with them the prestige of Nobel prizes. They are designed to recognize work of lasting significance particularly "major contributions to new knowledge or the development of significant new modes of analysis." The Nemmers prize is awarded every two years.
2026 Winner
The 2026 Erwin Plein Nemmers Prize in Economics winner is Whitney Newey.
Whitney Newey is the Ford Professor of Economics, Emeritus, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has been a leading figure in econometric theory for more than four decades, shaping both research and training in the field. He has done pathbreaking work on variance estimation, nonparametric simultaneous equations, consumer surplus estimation with general heterogeneity, and debiased machine learning.
Read the official announcement.
Visit Professor Newey’s website.
Professor Newey will visit Northwestern during the 2026-27 academic year to engage in programming with Economics faculty and students. Check back for information on his Nemmers lecture and associated conference.
2024 Winner & Events
The 2024 Erwin Plein Nemmers Prize in Economics winner is Michael Woodford.
Michael Woodford, the John Bates Clark Professor of Political Economy at Columbia University, is recognized for his achievements in “advancing the New Keynesian approach to understanding economic fluctuations in general equilibrium, bridging the theory and the practice of monetary policy, and incorporating bounded rationality in macroeconomics.”
Conference
Friday November 7 and Saturday November 8, 2025.
Short Course
"Cognitive Imprecision and Economic Behavior"
Mondays and Wednesdays
November 10, 12, 17 and 19
3:30pm-5:00pm
Kellogg Global Hub, Room 3301
More Information
Lecture 1 Slides
Lecture 2 Slides
Lecture 3 Slides
Lecture 4 Slides
More on Michael Woodford
Read the formal announcement and his biographical information.
Visit Professor Woodford's website.
Previous Nemmers Prize Winners
|
Winner |
|
|---|---|
|
|
|
|
Nobel Laureate 2023 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Nobel Laureate 2014 |
|
|
Nobel Laureate 2024 |
|
|
|
|
|
Nobel Laureate 2020 |
|
|
Lars Peter Hansen Nobel Laureate 2013 |
|
|
|
|
|
Nobel Laureate 2004 |
|
Daniel McFadden Nobel Laureate 2000 |
|
|
Nobel Laureate 2005 |
|
|
|
|
|
Nobel Laureate 2010 |
Ariel Pakes
Claudia Goldin
David Kreps
Sir Richard Blundell
Jean Tirole
Daron Acemoglu
Elhanan Helpman
Paul Milgrom
Ariel Rubinstein
Edward C. Prescott
Robert Aumann
Thomas Sargent
Peter Diamond