James J. Heckman is the Henry Schultz Distinguished Service Professor of Economics and Director of the Center for the Economics of Human Development at the University of Chicago. He received the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2000 for pioneering methods to evaluate social programs and account for selection bias in policy research.

His research focuses on policies that reduce inequality and support skill development across the life course. He takes an interdisciplinary approach, and the Center’s collaborations span multiple topics, disciplines, and countries.

Current work includes evaluating early childhood programs and their long-term effects on health, socioemotional development, well-being, and intergenerational outcomes. Related projects develop new methods to measure character skills and economic preferences to inform education and social policy.

Heckman holds a B.A. in Mathematics from Colorado College and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Economics from Princeton University. He has been on the University of Chicago faculty since 1973. His full list of honors, publications, and former students can be found on his CV.

For more information, please visit his profile page on the CEHD website.