Vernon L. Smith
Vernon L. Smith received the 2002 prize in Economic Sciences. This profile brings together the official award record and attributed background on the economist’s work and career.
Personal and professional profile
- Name
- Vernon L. Smith [1]
- Full name
- Vernon L. Smith [2]
- Birth date
- 1927-01-01 [2]
- Birthplace
- Wichita, KS, USA [2]
- Education
- University of Kansas; Kansas State University; Harvard University; University of Massachusetts Amherst; California Institute of Technology; Friends University [3]
- Fields / occupation
- economist; university teacher [3]
- Prize
- Economic Sciences · 2002 [2]
- Research recognized
- for having established laboratory experiments as a tool in empirical economic analysis, especially in the study of alternative market mechanisms [2]
- Prize share
- 1/2 [2]
- Affiliation at the award
- George Mason University [2]
- Institutions in career record
- Stanford University; University of Massachusetts Amherst; Brown University; California Institute of Technology; Purdue University; George Mason University [3]
Research, education and career background
Vernon Lomax Smith (born January 1, 1927) is an American economist who is currently a professor of economics and law at Chapman University. He was formerly the McLellan/Regent's Professor of Economics at the University of Arizona, a professor of economics and law at George Mason University, and a board member of the Mercatus Center. Along with Daniel Kahneman, Smith won the 2002 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his contributions to behavioral economics and his work in the field of experimental economics, which helped establish "laboratory experiments as a tool in empirical economic analysis, especially in the study of alternative market mechanisms." [4]
Smith is the founder and president of the International Foundation for Research in Experimental Economics (IFREEE), a member of the Independent Institute's board of advisors, and a senior fellow at the Cato Institute in Washington D.C. He was elected a Fellow of the Econometric Society in 1987, and was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1995. In 2004, Smith was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Universidad Francisco Marroquín, where the Vernon Smith Center for Experimental Economics Research is named for him. He was also a founding board member of the Center for Growth and Opportunity at Utah State University. As of 2023, Smith also sits on the advisory board of the Madden Center for Value Creation at Florida Atlantic University. [4]
Selected introductory text by Wikipedia contributors — Vernon L. Smith, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Official facts are cited separately.
Award and academic affiliation
The official Nobel record dates the Economic Sciences award to 2002 and lists George Mason University as the affiliation at the time. [2]
An affiliation attached to an award describes that point in the person’s career; it does not establish a current appointment. [2]
Education and career timeline
Source-supported connections
Frequently asked questions
When did Vernon L. Smith receive the prize in Economic Sciences?
The official award record gives the year as 2002. [2]
Which institution was Vernon L. Smith affiliated with at the time of the Economic Sciences award?
George Mason University. This is the award-time affiliation. [2]
Vernon L. Smith connection map
Select a node to inspect the relationship and source.
Links retain their source-specific meaning. Award-time affiliations and links to related reading are not claims about current appointments or economic causation.
Sources and review dates
- Nobel Prize — official biography and award record ↗
- Nobel Prize — official biography and award record ↗
- Wikidata background facts (CC0) ↗
- Wikipedia contributors — Vernon L. Smith (CC BY-SA 4.0) ↗
Reviewed 23 October 2026. Historical dates and award-time affiliations retain their original context. A review date is not an event date. Background sources are identified separately from official records.