Raj Chetty returns to Harvard after three years at Stanford

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Famous Indian American economist Raj Chetty, 29, will be returning to Harvard after three years.

Chetty, the youngest to gain tenure at Harvard, will take his position as the inaugural William A. Ackman Professor of Economics, this summer.

Chetty is known for rejuvenating the decline of American economic mobility and the impact of race on a child’s economic prospects; he has been at Stanford University.

Chetty served on Harvard’s economics faculty from 2009 to 2015.

He was first professor of economics and then a William Henry Bloomberg Professor of Economics.

According to the Harvard Gazette, Chetty is widely viewed as one of his generation’s most promising young economists as he has taken advantage of recent advances in computing and statistical methodology to leverage big data and provide new perspectives on one of America’s biggest challenges: economic inequality.

Chetty has received a MacArthur Foundation “genius grant” in 2012 as well as the John Bates Clark Medal of the American Economic Association, the year after.

“Raj’s research has laid bare issues that require innovative approaches and urgent attention. His work has provided unparalleled insight into challenges of inequality and opportunity. We are delighted to welcome him back to Harvard,” outgoing Harvard President Drew Faust told the Harvard Gazette.

“We are thrilled that Raj has decided to come home to Harvard. I look forward to working with him and others as we seek to extend opportunity to all. I have great appreciation for how Raj uses the tools of economics to both understand and seek solutions for one of our country’s biggest challenges,” incoming Harvard President Lawrence S. Bacow, added.

Chetty said that he would like to work with his colleagues to help remedy the inequality, which is what his research focuses on.

“There’s great scientific value in understanding what’s going on, and that has to be the first step. But we want to go beyond just shaping the conversation. What we really need to do, at the end of the day, is figure out what the solutions are,” Chetty told the Harvard Gazette.