Biography
Robert Solow — economist with roots in the Russian Empire
Robert Merton Solow (23 August 1924, Brooklyn - 21 December 2023, Lexington, Massachusetts) was an American economist. He joined MIT in 1949 and was Institute Professor Emeritus at his death. He received the 1987 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his analysis of economic growth, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2014.
Russian Connection
Tracing the roots — Not documented (grandparents were immigrants)
Solow was born in Brooklyn into a Jewish family; his father Milton was a fur buyer. Solow wrote that his parents were themselves the children of immigrants. No source consulted states where those grandparents came from.
Family Tree
Subject
Robert Solow🇺🇸 USA
↑
Grandparents
Milton Solow
Hannah Solow (née Sarney)
↑
Origin
Not documented (grandparents were immigrants)🇷🇺 Russian Empire
Historical context
Russian Empire · c. 1721–1917
.svg?width=900)
Not documented (grandparents were immigrants). At the time, this region lay within the Russian Empire, which spanned from Poland to the Pacific.
Map: Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA)
Key Achievements
A career defined by ambition
01
Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences (1987), for his analysis of economic growth
02
John Bates Clark Medal (1961)
03
MIT faculty from 1949; Institute Professor Emeritus
04
National Medal of Science (1999)
05
Presidential Medal of Freedom (2014)
Sources