Myerson, Roger B (1951– )

US mathematician and economist. He was one of the three winners of the 2007 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, sharing the prize for having laid the foundations of mechanism design theory with Leonid Hurwicz and Eric Maskin. He is a prolific author of academic papers and computer software which tackles the subject of game theory. He is best known as one of the authors of an influential principle in mechanism design theory, the Myerson–Satterthwaite theorem.

Mechanism design theory was initiated by Leonid Hurwicz in the 1960s, and further developed by Myerson and Maskin. The theory allows for people to distinguish situations in which markets work well from those in which they do not. It has helped economists identify efficient trading mechanisms, regulation schemes, and voting procedures. The theory plays a central role in many areas of economics and political science.

Born in Boston, Masachusetts, Myerson graduated AB summa cum laude and SM in Applied Mathematics from Harvard University in 1973, and gained a PhD there in Applied Mathematics in 1976. His work has been divided between the universities of Chicago and Northwestern Universities, and in 2007 he was appointed Glen A Lloyd Distinguished Service Professor at Chicago.