David Autor named head of MIT Department of Economics

David Autor, the Daniel (1972) and Gail Rubinfeld Professor in the MIT Department of Economics, has been named head of the Department of Economics, effective July 1. Autor has been a faculty member since 1999 and studies the labor-market impacts of technological change and globalization.

Who is David Autor?

David Autor has been on MIT’s faculty since 1999 and holds the Daniel (1972) and Gail Rubinfeld Professorship in Economics; his scholarship focuses on job polarization, skill demands, earnings levels, inequality, and electoral outcomes. He serves as faculty co-director of the James M. and Cathleen D. Stone Center on Inequality and Shaping the Future of Work and as co-director of the National Bureau of Economic Research Labor Studies Program.

Autor earned a BA in psychology from Tufts University in 1989 and a PhD in public policy from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government in 1999. His honors include the Andrew Carnegie Fellowship in 2019, the Heinz 25th Special Recognition Award in 2020, the Society for Progress Medal in 2021, being named a NOMIS Distinguished Scientist in 2023, and selection as an AI2050 Senior Fellow in 2024. He has also received awards for teaching, such as the MIT MacVicar Faculty Fellowship and the James A. and Ruth Levitan Award.

What will he focus on as department head?

Autor said he aims to "build on the stellar standard set by its faculty and students while navigating budget tightening and a shifting political landscape," and he emphasized leading the department toward opportunities that advancing AI opens in how the department teaches and what it researches. He succeeds Jon Gruber, the Ford Professor of Economics, who has served as department head since July 2023.

The appointment ties directly to his research agenda. Autor’s work on how technological change affects labor markets positions him to prioritize faculty and curricular responses to AI and automation, and to integrate those topics into departmental research and teaching priorities. His administrative role will sit alongside his existing leadership posts at the Stone Center and the NBER Labor Studies Program.

Why it matters

Autor’s combination of disciplinary standing and explicit focus on AI and the future of work signals a departmental tilt toward labor-market research that intersects with technology. His record of external fellowships and awards across 2019–2024 indicates both sustained research impact and recognition in areas the department can amplify under his leadership. Departments set hiring, curricular and research priorities; with Autor at the helm, expect those levers to be used to address how automation and AI reshape skills, earnings, and inequality.

What to watch

Look for concrete moves on hiring, curricular changes, and research center priorities that reflect his stated aims: responses to budget tightening and initiatives tied to AI and the future of work. The appointment becomes effective July 1; the department’s next public statements about faculty recruitment, course offerings, and center funding will show how Autor translates his research profile into administrative decisions.

Source-attributed facts in this piece include: Autor has been a faculty member since 1999; the appointment is effective July 1; he succeeds Jon Gruber, who served as department head since July 2023; Autor earned a BA in 1989 and a PhD in 1999; and he received named honors in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2023, and 2024.