Paul Anthony Samuelson (1915?2009) was the first American to win the Nobel Prize in Economics. When awarding the prize in
1970, the Swedish Royal Academies stated that he "has done more than any other contemporary economist to raise the level of scientific analysis in economic theory". Economic historian Randall E. Parker has called him the "Father of Modern Economics", & The NY Times considers him to be the "foremost academic economist of the 20th century".
He studied at the University of Chicago and received his Bachelor of Arts degree there in 1935. He said he was born as an economist, at 8.00am on Jan. 2, 1932, in the U. of Chicago classroom. The lecture mentioned as the cause was on the British economist Thomas Malthus, who most famously studied population growth and its effects.
Samuelson's family included many well-known economists, including brother Robert Summers, sister-in-law Anita Summers, brother-in-law Kenneth Arrow and nephew Larry Summers.
During his 7 decades as an economist, Samuelson's professional positions included: Assistant prof of economics at MIT, 1940; associate prof, 1944. Member of the Radiation Laboratory 1944?45. Prof of international economic relations (part-time) at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in 1945. Guggenheim Fellowship from 1948 to 1949 Prof of economics at MIT beginning in 1947 and Institute Prof beginning in 1962. Vernon F. Taylor Visiting Distinguished Prof at Trinity University (Texas) in spring 1989.