Renowned economist 拉吉柴提 to give Alfred University commencement address

柴提 威廉·A. Ackman Professor of Public Economics at Harvard University. His research combines empirical evidence 和 economic theory to help design more effective government policies. His work on topics ranging from tax policy 和 unemployment insurance to education 和 affordable housing has been widely cited in academia, 媒体, 和国会证词.  

He is also the Director of Opportunity Insights, a Harvard-based not-for-profit organization which uses “big data” to research ways to give children from disadvantaged backgrounds better chances of rising out of poverty.  

Big data is a combination of structured, 半结构化, 和 unstructured data that organizations collect, 分析, 和 mine for information 和 insights. It may be 分析d computationally to reveal patterns, 趋势, 和协会, especially relating to human behavior 和 interactions. Opportunity Insights supports policymakers, 从业人员, 和 communities to use its research 和 data to develop evidence-based solutions for improved economic mobility.  

切蒂获得了博士学位.D. from Harvard University in 2003 和 his bachelor’s degree in economics, also from Harvard, in 2000. He was offered tenure when he was only 28, making him one of the youngest tenured professors in Harvard's history. Before joining the faculty at Harvard, 柴提 was a professor at UC-Berkeley 和 Stanford University.  He is one of the most cited economists in the world. In 2008, 《在线赌博》 和 《在线赌博》 listed him as one of the world’s top eight young economists.  

柴提 has received numerous awards for his research, including a 2012 MacArthur Fellowship—awarded annually by the John D. 和凯瑟琳. 麦克阿瑟基金会, typically to between 20 和 30 individuals, 在任何领域工作, who have shown “extraordinary originality 和 dedication in their creative pursuits 和 a marked capacity for self-direction”; Harvard’s George Ledlie Prize (2023), awarded for research that made the most valuable contribution to science, or in any way for the benefit of mankind; 和 the 2013 John Bates Clark medal, given to the economist under 40 whose work is judged to have made the most significant contribution to the field. 根据 高等教育编年史, the John Bates Clark Medal “is widely regarded as one of the field's most prestigious awards... second only to the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences.” 

柴提 was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2018. In 2020, he received the Infosys Prize for Social Sciences – Economics “for his pioneering research on identifying barriers to economic opportunity 和 for developing solutions to help people escape from poverty towards better life outcomes.” 

Others scheduled to speak during Alfred University’s commencement ceremony include the 2024 Marlin Miller Outst和ing Senior Award recipients Brian Ngatunga 和 Emilia Donenberg Smith.

Ngatunga, 从竭尽全力, 坦桑尼亚, is set to graduate one year early with a bachelor’s degree in business analytics 和 a minor in marketing with a 3.平均95分. 荣誉项目学生, Ngatunga has been inducted into the Delta Mu Delta, Alpha Kappa Phi, πγ, 穆卡帕头, α Iota δ, Sigma, 和 Omicron Delta Kappa honor societies 和 serves as president of the latter.

Smith, from Wilmette, IL, is pursuing a dual degree in fine arts 和 physics. She has a cumulative grade-point average of 3.89. The recipient of a Presidential Scholarship, Smith participates in the 荣誉 Program at Alfred University. She is the recipient of the 2023 Natasha Goldowski Renner Prize in Physics 和 a 2023 American Ceramic Society (ACerS) Scientific Creativity Award.

Winners of the Marlin Miller Outst和ing Senior Award are chosen based on scholarship, 课外的成就, personal character 和 conduct, 由教员提名, 学生, 工作人员, 和校友. The award was established to honor Alfred University alumnus Marlin Miller ’54, H ’89, H ’19 one of Alfred University’s most generous supporters. Miller has been a member of Alfred University’s Board of Trustees since 1972 和 is a former Board chair.