Robert H. Frank

Robert H. Frank is recognized in the field of behavioral economics for his work in making complex economic concepts accessible to general audiences. Frank holds the title of Henrietta Johnson Louis Professor Emeritus of Management and Professor Emeritus of Economics at the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University. He is also a senior fellow at Demos. Frank earned a Bachelor of Science in mathematics from Georgia Tech, taught math and science as a Peace Corps volunteer in rural Nepal, and later completed a Master of Arts in statistics and a doctorate in economics from the University of California at Berkeley.

Frank has served as a professor at Cornell, where he contributed to the development of behavioral economics as an academic discipline. He co-directed the Behavioral Economics and Decision Research Center, an interdisciplinary group focused on judgment, decision making, and behavioral economics. During his career, Frank also served as chief economist for the Civil Aeronautics Board and as a fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences.

Frank's publications have been translated into 23 languages. His books include "Choosing the Right Pond," "Passions Within Reason," "Microeconomics and Behavior," "Principles of Economics" (with Ben Bernanke), "Luxury Fever," "The Economic Naturalist," and "The Darwin Economy." "The Winner-Take-All Society," co-authored with Philip Cook, received a Critic's Choice Award, was named a Notable Book of the Year by The New York Times, and was included in Business Week's list of the ten best books. Frank explores themes such as the role of luck and behavioral contagion in "Under the Influence: Putting Peer Pressure to Work" and "Success and Luck: Good Fortune and the Myth of Meritocracy."

Frank's "Economic View" column appeared in The New York Times for more than a decade. His research has been published in journals including American Economic Review, Econometrica, and Journal of Political Economy. Frank is a co-recipient of the Leontief Prize for Advancing the Frontiers of Economic Thought and has received the Johnson School's Stephen Russell Distinguished Teaching Award and Apple Distinguished Teaching Award. He holds an honorary doctorate in economics from the University of St. Gallen. Frank's work focuses on the application of economic analysis to human behavior, status, and well-being.