MIT Economist Esther Duflo to Lecture at Pitt March 20

PITTSBURGH-French economist Esther Duflo, whose work has been a driving force in promoting economic growth in low-income countries, will deliver a free public lecture from 3:30 to 5 p.m. March 20 in Room 343 of the University of Pittsburgh's Alumni Hall, 4227 Fifth Ave., Oakland.

Duflo's talk, "Experiments, Science, and the Fight Against Poverty," is the 2009 McKay Lecture presented by Department of Economics within Pitt's School of Arts and Sciences.

The Abdul Latif Jameel Professor of Poverty Alleviation and Development Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Duflo applies randomized control trial techniques to poverty interventions to determine whether a program is effective. She analyzes a wide range of issues in health, education, gender, and politics. As founder and codirector of MIT's Jameel Poverty Action lab, she has explored ways to boost girls' attendance in school, improve the output of farmers in sub-Saharan Africa, and motivate parents to bring their children in for immunizations.

Duflo has been the recipient of a number of honors and prizes, including the American Economic Association Elaine Bennett Prize for Research in 2003 and the Best French Young Economist Prize in 2005. She is founding editor of the "American Economic Journal: Applied Economics" and on the board of editors of the "Annual View of Economics."

Duflo completed her undergraduate studies at L'Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris, received a master's degree from DELTA in Paris, and earned a PhD degree at MIT. At age 29, she became one of the youngest tenured professors in MIT's history.

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