William C. Brainard Professor of Economics
Ben Polak is the William C. Brainard Professor of Economics, and was the provost of Yale University from 2013–2019. He joined the Yale faculty in 1994. He has a B.A. from Cambridge University, an M.A. in history from Northwestern University, and a Ph.D., in economics from Harvard University. Prior to joining Yale, he was a junior fellow at the Harvard Society of Fellows and a visiting professor in the initial year of the New Economics School in Moscow. He holds a joint appointment in Yale’s Department of Economics and at the Yale School of Management, teaching mostly decision theory and game theory. He has also taught in Yale Law School in a courtesy appointment. He was chair of the Department of Economics from 2010 until he became provost.
An expert on decision theory and economic history, Polak has published numerous papers in leading economic journals, and has studied topics such as how individuals make decisions when faced with uncertainty and how societies choose when faced with inequality. His work on game theory ranges from foundational theoretical work on common knowledge to applied topics in corporate finance, law, and economics. His earlier research includes the emergence of a capital market in England in the 18th and 19th centuries; property transactions in Ireland from the early 18th century to modern times; and past correlations between poverty, policy, and industrialization.
At Yale, Polak has served as a member of the University Budget Committee, a member of the executive committees of the MacMillan Center and the Institution for Social and Policy Studies, a fellow of the Whitney Humanities Center, and a visiting professor at the Yale Law School. He is also a dedicated teacher who has been honored with three major university teaching prizes: Yale College’s Lex Hixon ’63 Prize for Teaching Excellence in the Social Sciences (2006); the Department of Economics Graduate Teaching Prize (2005); and the William Clyde DeVane Medal for undergraduate teaching and scholarship at Yale College (2005).