Born in Pennsylvania in 1930, he won the Nobel Memorial Prize for Economic Science in 1992. He is now Professor of Economics and Sociology at the University of Chicago. Becker is recognized for his expertise in human capital, economics of the family, and economic analysis of crime, discrimination, and population. His current research focuses on habits and addictions, formation of preferences, human capital, and population growth. Becker is a featured monthly columnist for Business Week magazine and served as an economic policy adviser for the Dole Presidential Campaign in 1996. He received the National Medal of Science in 2000 for his work in social policy.

Becker is the author of numerous books, including the seminal work Human Capital (Columbia University Press, 1964; 3d edition, 1993), which was awarded the prestigious W.S.Woytinskty Award in 1964, and is the focus of the interest for the WSS.

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