Daron Acemoglu, an Armenian economist from the Constantinople community who teaches at MIT since 1993, has been awarded the 2024 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, alongside Simon Johnson from MIT and James A. Robinson from the University of Chicago. The trio was honored for their pioneering research on the role of societal institutions in shaping a country’s prosperity, demonstrating how inclusive institutions foster growth while extractive ones hinder it. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences praised their work, noting its impact on understanding the deep-rooted economic disparities between nations. Acemoglu, who co-authored Why Nations Fail, was raised by Armenian parents in Constantinople, where his father was a lawyer and lecturer, and his mother Irma Ajemian, a poet and principal at an Armenian elementary school where he studied.
57-year-old Acemoglu has become the second Armenian Nobel laureate. His recognition follows that of Ardem Patapoutian, who won the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 2021 for his groundbreaking research on how cells sense mechanical stimuli. Patapoutian’s discoveries revolutionized the understanding of touch, pain, and pressure mechanisms.