Giving to MIT Economics

MIT Economics provides an environment where intellectual breakthroughs in research go hand in hand with an educational program that nurtures the skills, commitment, and vision of its superb faculty and students. Until recently, MIT competed with a small set of other universities for top faculty members and students. Today, however, the competition has become broader and more intense. Maintaining MIT Economics’ high standard of achievement is therefore more challenging. More than anything else, preserving the department’s excellence requires a significant increase in its resource base. To ensure that MIT Economics remains at the pinnacle of its field, the faculty is in the midst of an endowment campaign. The Economics Leadership Campaign seeks to raise at least $15 million in new support by the end of 2008. This support will significantly enhance both research and teaching resources.

The Economics Leadership Campaign is essential if MIT Economics is to maintain its influential position and strive for even greater accomplishments. The campaign will permit modest faculty expansion, support the retention of top scholars, and provide new resources for attracting the brightest graduate students. These steps will collectively strengthen both undergraduate and graduate education, and ensure that the department retains its extraordinary role in both the academic and public policy communities.

Giving Opportunities

Endowed Professorship for new senior faculty member: $5,000,000

Endowed Professorship for a current senior faculty member: $3,000,000

Endowed Career Development Professorship: $2,000,000

Endowed Graduate Fellowship: $1,000,000
This includes the annual tuition and stipend

Endowed Partial Graduate Fellowship: From $250,000


Gifts in all amounts help to advance the Department's core mission. The following funds, and associated account numbers, provide a range of ways to target your gift:

Economics Endowment Program Fund - 3141200
Provides general unrestricted endowment for the department.

Paul Samuelson Undergraduate Fund - 3179900
Provides support for undergraduate students in economics, including UROPS, and for new undergraduate economics research and communications initiatives.

Economics General Research Fund - 3139100
Provides support for faculty research in the Department.

Rudi Dornbusch Fellowship Fund - 3296700
Provides support of graduate fellowships named in memory of Professor Rudi Dornbusch with a preference for graduate students working on the issues Professor Dornbusch cared about most: the macroeconomic evolution of countries and of the international economy.

Economics Endowed Fellowship Fund - 3297201
Provides support for graduate fellowships in the Department.

Franco Modigliani Fellowship Fund in Economics - 3305250
Provides support of graduate fellowships named in memory of Professor Franco Modigliani, Nobel laureate, with a preference for students doing research in macroeconomics and/or finance, the two main areas in which Professor Modigliani worked.

Paul A. Samuelson Endowed Fellowship Fund - 3309000
Provides support of graduate fellowships named for Professor Paul Samuelson, Nobel laureate.

Robert M. Solow Endowment Fund - 3309800
Provides support for graduate fellowships named for Professor Robert Solow, Nobel Laureate, and an annual Robert M. Solow Prize awarded to the graduate student in the Department who exhibits the most outstanding performance in both scholarship and teaching.

Jameel Poverty Action Lab Fund - 2737236
Provides discretionary support for the Jameel Poverty Action Lab. J-PAL serves as a focal point for development and poverty research based on randomized trials.