Robert Fry Engle American economist Date of Birth: 10.11.1942 Country: USA

1. Biography of Robert Fry Engle
2. Early Life and Education
3. Academic Career
4. Contributions to Economic Theory
5. Founding the Society for Financial Econometrics

Biography of Robert Fry Engle

Robert Fry Engle is an American economist and the co-recipient of the 2003 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences. He was honored for his "development of methods for analyzing economic time series with time-varying volatility," which he shared with Clive Granger.

Early Life and Education

Engle was born in Syracuse, New York. He completed his undergraduate studies in physics at Williams College. He then obtained a master's degree in physics and later a Ph.D. in economics from Cornell University.

Academic Career

After earning his Ph.D., Engle became a professor of economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) from 1969 to 1977. In 1975, he joined the University of California, San Diego, where he remained until his retirement in 2003. Currently, Engle holds honorary professorship and serves as a research professor at the University of California. He also taught at New York University, where he held the position of professor of financial services management and developed a successful risk management program. His expertise in risk management led to an invitation to the Amsterdam Institute of Finance.

Contributions to Economic Theory

Engle's most significant contribution to economic theory was his innovative discovery of methods for analyzing unpredictable processes in financial markets and interest rates. Accurate prediction of seemingly uncontrollable processes proved essential for effective risk analysis. Previous researchers either used constant values in their calculations or relied on relatively simplistic approximation schemes. Engle's new statistical models allowed for unprecedented accuracy in analyzing economic processes with alternating periods of high and low instability. Today, these models are considered crucial tools in pricing theory research.

Founding the Society for Financial Econometrics

Engle, in collaboration with Eric Ghysels, recently founded the Society for Financial Econometrics.