Leonid Hurwicz's Video Transcription


After three decades of waiting, former University of Minnesota professor Leonid Hurwicz was understandably skeptical when he received an early morning phone call on Monday.


Hurwicz: I gave the telephone to my wife, and she said, well it's somebody who says you won the Nobel Prize and I said that it was probably a stupid joke or something.


It wasn't a joke, Hurwicz, has been awarded the Nobel Prize for his work in economics while he was at the University of Minnesota, a job the professor started in 1951.

At the time when I came to Minnesota, I had a very strong secondary interest that had to do with the branch of economics, which is called econometrics.  

Hurwicz's theory of mechanism design, has helped economists develop solutions for problems businesses face, such as pollution. Today, his work is used for analysis of monetary policy rules, internal organization of large corporations, and the shaping of computer networks. 

U of M President Robert Bruininks, says all those contributions, along with the Nobel Prize, mean a lot to the University. 


Bruininks: It gives everyone associated with the University of Minnesota, the citizens of this state, the people that work at this great University, an enormous sense of pride. 


Bruininks says the 90-year-old Hurwicz had opportunities to go elsewhere, including Harvard, to conduct his research. But in the end, the U of M kept bringing him back.


Bruininks: Mainly because of this extraordinary academic atmosphere and commitment to supporting his work.


Now, the U of M is celebrating the Nobel Prize with Hurwicz. 

Despite the attention, Hurwicz remains humble, joking the only reason he won, and not some of his other colleagues, was because he outlived those other colleagues. 


Hurwicz: "Because for some reason, the Nobel Prize has the requirement that they [winners] should be alive."


For the University of Minnesota, I am Justin Ware.