Prof. John Goodenough, who shared the 2019 Nobel Prize in chemistry for his work developing the lithium-ion battery, has died at age 100, reports Jim Vertuno for the AP. Goodenough “began his career at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where his research laid the groundwork for development of random-access memory for the digital computer.”
Washington Post reporter Brian Murphy memorializes the life and work of Prof. John Goodenough, who worked at MIT Lincoln Laboratory for over 20 years. Goodenough was “an American scientist who shared a Nobel Prize for helping create the lithium-ion battery that powered the mobile tech revolution and provides the juice for electric cars, but who later raised worries about a design that relies on scarce natural resources,” writes Murphy.
New York Times reporter Robert D. McFadden highlights the work of Prof. John Goodenough, a scientist who worked at MIT's Lincoln Laboratory for over 20 years and played a “crucial role in developing the revolutionary lithium-ion battery” has died at age 100. “At MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory in the 1950s and ’60s, he was a member of teams that helped lay the groundwork for random access memory (RAM) in computers and developed plans for the nation’s first air defense system,” writes McFadden.
Washington Post reporter David Lynch highlights the work of Ben S. Bernanke PhD ’79, one of the recipients of this year’s Nobel Prize in economic sciences, who was honored for his research on the role banks play during financial turmoil. “Bernanke demonstrated that bank failures — rather than resulting from the downturn — were responsible for making it so deep and so long. When banks collapsed, valuable information about borrowers disappeared, making it difficult for new institutions to channel savings to productive investments,” notes Lynch.
The 2022 Nobel Prize in economic sciences was awarded in part to Ben S. Bernanke PhD ’79 for his research showing that “bank failures can propagate a financial crisis rather than simply be a result of the crisis,” reports Jeanna Smialek for The New York Times. When asked about his advice for younger economists, Bernanke noted “one of the lessons of my life is, you never know what is going to happen.”
Ben S. Bernanke PhD ’79 has been honored as one of the recipients of this year’s Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences, reports the Associated Press. Bernanke was recognized for his work examining the Great Depression and “showing the danger of bank runs — when panicked people withdraw their savings — and how bank collapses led to widespread economic devastation,” notes the AP.
Ben Bernanke PhD ’79, former chair of the Federal Reserve, has been awarded the 2022 Nobel Prize in economic sciences, reports Allison Morrow for CNN. Bernanke “received the award for his research on the Great Depression,” says Morrow. “In short, his work demonstrates that banks’ failures are often a cause, not merely a consequence, of financial crises.”
Ben Bernanke PhD ’79 has won a share of the 2022 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences for his research on banks and financial crises, reports Micahel T. Nietzel for Forbes. Bernanke and his fellow winners are credited with significantly improving “our understanding of the role of banks in the economy, particularly during financial crises,” says The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
Prof. Laura Kiessling speaks with Ryan Cross and Emily Sweeney at The Boston Globe about the work of Stanford professor Carolyn R. Bertozzi, daughter of MIT professor emeritus William Bertozzi, who won this year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Bertozzi’s work “changes the way people think about doing science. There have been further advances, but they all build on her work,” says Kiessling.
Prof. Esther Duflo speaks with New York Times reporter Peter Wilson about how climate change can impact global inequality. “The responsibility for the emissions that lead to climate change rests mainly with rich countries and their consumers, but the cost is mainly going to be borne by citizens in poor countries,” says Duflo.
Knight Science Journalism Director Deborah Blum writes for The New York Times about Frank Close’s book ‘’Elusive: How Peter Higgs Solved the Mystery of Mass,” which highlights Nobel Prize winner Peter Higgs. “Using the known rules of physics, from electromagnetism to quantum mechanics, Higgs raised the possibility of an unstable subatomic particle that, through a series of fizzing interactions, could lend mass to other particles,” writes Blum.
Prof. Joshua Angrist speaks with The Nobel Podcast host Adam Smith about his career in economics and how winning the Nobel Prize has impacted his life. “I never stop thinking about my work,” says Angrist.
Prof. Jon Gruber speaks with Jared Bowen and Jim Braude of GBH about his colleague and former thesis advisor Prof. Joshua Angrist, who recently was awarded a Nobel Prize in Economics. “I don’t think I’ve ever been more excited over someone’s professional accomplishment as I’ve been for Josh to win this award. It’s just incredibly exciting,” says Gruber.
Prof. Joshua Angrist, one of the winners of the 2021 Nobel Prize in Economics, speaks with Rachana Shanbhogue of The Economist’s Money Talks podcast about the evolution of his research and how his work has helped bring the field of economics closer to real life. “I like to tell graduate students that a good scholar is like a good hitter in baseball,” says Angrist of his advice for economics students. “You get on base about a third of the time you’re doing pretty well, which means you strike out most of the time.”
Prof. Joshua Angrist has been named one of the winners of this year’s Nobel Prize in Economics for his work developing “a framework showing how precise conclusions about cause and effect could be drawn from natural experiments,” reports Delphine Strauss for the Financial Times. “The committee said this had ‘transformed’ applied work, and was now widely used in economics, and increasingly in other social sciences, epidemiology and medicine,” writes Strauss.