Announcing New Symposia to Honor Economist David M. Kreps

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David M. Kreps, Adams Distinguished Professor of Management, Emeritus. | Nancy Rothstein

Reinforcing its commitment to pioneering research and outstanding management education, Stanford Graduate School of Business is pleased to announce the creation of the David M. Kreps Symposia.

The symposia will honor David M. Kreps, Adams Distinguished Professor of Management, Emeritus, who retired on Oct. 16, 2018, after a 43-year career at Stanford GSB. The David M. Kreps Symposia will be held on an ongoing basis. They have been endowed by Stanford GSB alumni and friends to honor Professor Kreps’ many contributions as an economic theorist, teacher, colleague, and former senior associate dean of Stanford GSB.

Through collaborations within Stanford and across academic institutions, Kreps exemplifies the impact of innovative research and teaching that is the hallmark of Stanford GSB; the newly named symposia will be a testament to the lasting contributions Kreps has had and will continue to have on the school.

“The GSB has always excelled at research that goes to fundamental questions in the social sciences, and in bringing those questions and cutting-edge answers to the classroom,” said Senior Associate Dean Maureen McNichols. “The David M. Kreps Symposia demonstrates Stanford GSB’s continued commitment to these twin endeavors, which typified David’s own research and teaching, and his efforts as associate dean to promote such work.”

The symposia will be organized by Stanford GSB faculty members and will bring to campus outstanding scholars to address and discuss a specific question or topic area. Kreps, together with Professors Jonathan Bendor and Deborah H. Gruenfeld, will organize the inaugural event, tentatively planned for Spring 2020. This first symposium will take on questions at the intersection of economics and psychology: To what extent are models in economics that presume hyperrational actors helpful in understanding economic and social phenomena? Should economic models become more behavioral? How, and how much so?

Subsequent symposia will be held approximately every 18 months.

Further Information on David M. Kreps

Kreps has influenced generations of scholars and students through his teaching and research in the areas of dynamic choice behavior, game theory, financial markets, and organization theory. In his long career, he taught choice theory and microeconomics at the doctoral level, and decision analysis, optimization, competitive analysis, operations, microeconomics, and human resource management at the MBA level. In 1991, he won the Stanford GSB Distinguished Teacher Award. He is the author or coauthor of three textbooks at the doctoral level and two at the MBA level. He served as senior associate dean from 2000-2009 under the leadership of Dean Robert L. Joss. During that time, he played an instrumental role in the implementation of the Saloner Curriculum Review Committee redesign of Stanford GSB’s MBA curriculum. His work with faculty and the Stanford GSB Advisory Council was pivotal in bringing about significant change at Stanford GSB.

As an economic theorist, Kreps made pioneering contributions in multiple areas including choice theory, financial markets, game theory, and organization theory. He has received multiple accolades including the John Bates Clark Medal in 1989, the CME Group-MSRI Prize in Innovative Quantitative Applications in 2007, Distinguished Fellow of the American Economic Association in 2010, Fellow of the Econometric Society, Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and Member of the National Academy of Sciences. Last year, Kreps was awarded the Erwin Plein Nemmers Prize in Economics for his lasting achievement and work in the field of economics, and with Stanford professors Paul Milgrom and Robert Wilson, the John J. Carty Award for the Advancement of Science, which recognizes major advances in game theory, and how it could be applied to problems in business, economics, politics, and other areas.

For more information on supporting the David M. Kreps Symposia Fund, email the Stanford GSB Office of Development.