The years 1999 to 2004 were a period of incredible academic creativity and productivity for James Robinson, an economist and political scientist at UC Berkeley. His research and writing were transforming how the world thinks about the development of low-income countries. His teaching was shaping a generation of young Berkeley scholars who would help advance his ideas about why some nations were rich and others poor.
Today, Robinson was named one of the winners of the 2024 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, and though he left Berkeley 20 years ago, students and colleagues say the work he did and the relationships he built in that time still have a profound impact at Berkeley, and worldwide.
In 2000, economist Edward Miguel was in his first year as a Berkeley assistant professor, and Robinson quickly became a crucial mentor and supporter. “It was amazing having him here then, because everybody knew immediately when his work was being published how important it was,” Miguel recalled. “It was instantaneously influential.”
Thad Dunning arrived at Berkeley in 2001, and Robinson became a mentor and co-chair of his Ph.D. dissertation committee. “His influence on Berkeley graduate students was tremendous,” said Dunning, now a professor of political science. “He really had an outsized role in his five years here, and that has continued with his ties to the institution since then.”
Robinson’s win brought to four the number of 2024 Nobel Prizes received by scholars with UC Berkeley connections. Alumnus Gary Ruvkun shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, former faculty member John Hopwood was a co-winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics, and another alumnus, David Baker, split the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
