Department of Economics
Heads of the program and department
| Davis R. Dewey | 1893-1933 |
| Ralph Evans Freeman | 1933-1958 |
| Robert Lyle Bishop | 1958-1964 |
| Edgar Cary Brown | 1964-1982 |
| Ann F. Friedlaender | 1983-1984 |
| Edgar Cary Brown | 1984, Acting Head |
| Peter Arthur Diamond | 1985-1987 |
| Richard Samuel Eckaus | 1987-1990 |
| Peter Temin | 1990-1993 |
| Stanley Fischer | 1993-1994 |
| Paul Joskow | 1994-1998 |
| Olivier Blanchard | 1998-2003 |
| Bengt Holmstrom | 2003-2006 |
| James Poterba | 2006-2008 |
| Ricardo J. Caballero | 2008-2011 |
| Whitney Newey | 2011-2016 |
| Glenn Ellison | 2016-2017 |
| Nancy L. Rose | 2017-2020 |
| Glenn Ellison | 2020- |
Until 1903, classes in economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology were taught as part of Course IX, General Studies. In 1903 the Department of Economics, Statistics and Political Science was established; in 1907 it became the Department of Economics and Statistics, and Political Science became part of the Department of History and Political Science. In 1934 the Department of Economics and Statistics became the Department of Economics and Social Science, and in 1965 it became the Department of Economics.
Prepared by the Department of Distinctive Collections, MIT Libraries
March 1998; updated 2006, 2010, April 2020