James J. Heckman is the Henry Schultz Distinguished Service Professor in Economics and the College at the University of Chicago where he is also an affiliate professor at the Harris School of Public Policy, and director of the Center for Social Program Evaluation at Harris. Much of his work has focused on the impact of different social programs and the methodologies used to measure those program’s effects.
In 2000, Dr. Heckman shared the Nobel Prize in Economics for his work on the microeconometrics of diversity and heterogeneity and for establishing a sound causal basis for public policy evaluation. He has also received numerous other awards for his work and was made a Distinguished Fellow of the American Economic Association in 2017. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences; the American Philosophical Society; the American Association for the Advancement of Science; the Econometric Society; the Society of Labor Economics; the American Statistical Association; the International Statistical Institute; and the National Academy of Education. He is also a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He has received numerous honorary degrees, most recently from University College London in 2013.
Dr. Heckman has published over 350 articles and 9 books. His most recent book is The Myth of Achievement Tests: The GED and the Role of Character in American Life (University of Chicago Press, 2014).