Glenn David Ellison (born 1965) is an American economist who is Gregory K. Palm Professor of Economics at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

(MIT) and an Elected Fellow of the

Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory The Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory abbreviated as SAET is a non-profit membership society founded to "advance knowledge in theoretical economics and to facilitate communication among researchers in economics, mathematics, game theor ...

and

American Academy of Arts & Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...

Education and career

Ellison received an

A.B. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

degree in mathematics from

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

. He went on to

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...

on a Churchill Scholarship and received an

M.Phil. The Master of Philosophy (MPhil; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. In the United States, an MPhil typically includes a taught portion and a significant research portion, during which a thesis project is conducted under supervision. An MPhil ...

degree in economics in 1988. He then worked briefly as an Associate at

Charles River Associates Charles River Associates (legally CRA International, Inc.) is a global consulting firm headquartered in Boston. Practice areas Their practices include: aerospace & defense, antitrust & competition economics, auctions & competitive bidding, climat ...

between 1988 and 1989. He received his

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

in economics from MIT in 1992 under the supervision of Drew Fudenberg. After his doctorate, he became an Assistant Professor of Economics at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

from 1992 to 1994. He moved to MIT since 1994 and became head of the Department of Economics between 2016 and 2017 and again since 2020. Ellison's research interests include game theory,

industrial organization In economics, industrial organization is a field that builds on the theory of the firm by examining the structure of (and, therefore, the boundaries between) firms and markets. Industrial organization adds real-world complications to the perf ...

, education, finance, economic geography, and academia.

Honors and awards

Ellison is a Fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...

, the

Econometric Society The Econometric Society is an international society of academic economists interested in applying statistical tools to their field. It is an independent organization with no connections to societies of professional mathematicians or statisticians. ...

, and the

, and has received several awards, including an

Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship The Sloan Research Fellowships are awarded annually by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation since 1955 to "provide support and recognition to early-career scientists and scholars". This program is one of the oldest of its kind in the United States. ...

and a fellowship from the Center for Advanced Studies in the Behavioral Sciences. He has served on the

National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National ...

Economics Panel and as a council member for the Econometric Society.

Personal life

Ellison married Sara Fisher Ellison, a senior lecturer in economics at MIT. They have three daughters, Caroline, Anna, and Kate. Caroline is known for her work as the CEO of

Alameda Research Alameda Research was a cryptocurrency trading firm, co-founded in September 2017 by Sam Bankman-Fried and Tara Mac Aulay. In November 2022, FTX, Alameda's sister cryptocurrency exchange, experienced a solvency crisis, and both FTX and Alame ...

, a defunct cryptocurrency trading firm tied to the collapse of FTX, for which she has pleaded guilty to multiple financial crimes. Ellison spends time as a math coach for schoolchildren and wrote textbooks for the purpose.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellison, Glenn 1965 births Living people MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences faculty American economists Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni Alumni of Churchill College, Cambridge Economics journal editors Fellows of the Econometric Society Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Harvard College alumni