Nobel Prize
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Gary Becker, economics Nobel Laureate, dies at 83
Noted Jewish academic, a pioneering economist who applied his tools to analyzing human behavior, passed away after extended illness.
Gary Becker, a prominent Jewish economist, who received the Nobel Prize in economic sciences in 1992, has died at age 83.
Becker's stepson, Mike Claffey, said Becker died Saturday at Northwestern Hospital from complications after an extended illness.
Becker, a University of Chicago economics and sociology professor, was cited for breaking ground by applying economic analysis to a wide range of human behavior and interactions. At the time he became a Nobel Laureate, Becker said he felt "economics had the tools" to handle social questions.
University of Chicago President Robert Zimmerman said Becker will be remembered as one of the foremost economic scholars of the 20th century.
Becker's mentor was famed economist Milton Friedman. The school honored them in 2011 with The Becker Friedman Institute for Research in Economics.
