Lloyd Shapley
USINFO | 2013-11-20 15:22
Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences (2012) Laureate |
Lloyd Shapley, 1980 Lloyd Shapley in Stockholm,2012
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Born |
Lloyd Stowell Shapley
June 2, 1923 (age 90)
Cambridge, Massachusetts |
Residence |
U.S. |
Nationality |
American |
Fields |
Mathematics, Economics |
Institutions |
University of California, Los Angeles, 1981–present
(Emeritus 2000–present)
Rand Corporation, 1948–49, 1954–81
Princeton University, 1953–54
US Army, 1943–45 |
Alma mater |
Princeton University
Harvard University |
Doctoral advisor |
Albert W. Tucker |
Known for |
Shapley value
Shapley–Shubik power index
stochastic games
Bondareva–Shapley theorem
Shapley–Folkman lemma & theorem
Gale–Shapley algorithm
potential game
core, kernel and nucleolus
market games
authority distribution
multi-person utility
non-atomic games |
Influences |
John von Neumann
Martin Shubik
Jon Folkman |
Influenced |
Martin Shubik
Jon Folkman |
Notable awards |
Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences (2012)
John von Neumann Theory Prize |
Lloyd Stowell Shapley (born June 2, 1923) is a distinguished American mathematician and economist. He is a Professor Emeritus at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), affiliated with departments of Mathematics and Economics. He has contributed to the fields of mathematical economics and especially game theory. Since the work of von Neumann and Morgenstern in 1940s, Shapley has been regarded by many experts as the very personification of game theory. With Alvin E. Roth, Shapley won the 2012 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences "for the theory of stable allocations and the practice of market design."
Life and career
Lloyd Shapley was born on June 2, 1923, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, one of the sons of Martha (Betz) and the distinguished astronomer Harlow Shapley, both from Missouri. He attended Phillips Exeter Academy and was a student at Harvard when he was drafted in 1943. He served in the Army Air Corps in Chengdu, China and received the Bronze Star decoration for breaking the Soviet weather code. After the war, he returned to Harvard and graduated with an A.B. in mathematics in 1948. After working for one year at the RAND Corporation, he went to Princeton University where he received a Ph.D. in 1953. His thesis and post-doctoral work introduced the Shapley value and the core solution in game theory. After graduating, he remained at Princeton for a short time before going back to the RAND corporation from 1954 to 1981. Since 1981 he has been a professor at UCLA.
Contribution
Along with the Shapley value, stochastic games, the Bondareva–Shapley theorem (which implies that convex games have non-empty cores), the Shapley–Shubik power index (for weighted or block voting power), the Gale–Shapley algorithm (for the stable marriage problem), the concept of a potential game (with Dov Monderer), the Aumann–Shapley pricing, the Harsanyi–Shapley solution, the Snow–Shapley theorem for matrix games, and the Shapley–Folkman lemma & theorem bear his name.
Besides, his early work with R.N.Snow and Samuel Karlin on matrix games was so complete that little has been added since. He has been instrumental in the development of utility theory, and it was he who laid much of the groundwork for the solution of the problem of the existence of Von Neumann–Morgenstern stable sets. His work with M.Maschler and B.Peleg on the kernel and the nucleolus, and his work with Robert Aumann on non-atomic games and on long-term competition have all had a tremendous impact in economic theory.
In his 80s, Shapley continues publishing in the areas of specialization he created or advanced, such as multi-person utility (with Manel Baucells) and authority distribution (a generalization to the Shapley–Shubik power index and useful in ranking, planning and group decision-making).
Awards and honors
Bronze Star, U.S. Army Air Corps, 1944
Procter Fellow, Princeton University, 1951–52
Fellow, Econometric Society, 1967
Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1974
Member, National Academy of Sciences, 1979
John von Neumann Theory Prize, 1981
Honorary Ph.D., Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1986
Fellow, INFORMS (Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences), 2002
Distinguished Fellow, American Economic Association, 2007
Fellow, American Mathematical Society, 2012
Sveriges Riksbank Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, 2012
Golden Goose Award, 2013
Trivia
In 1950, Shapley invented the board game So Long Sucker, along with Mel Hausner, John Forbes Nash, and Martin Shubik.
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