Debreu, Gerard

Gerard Debreu was born in Calais, France on July 4, 1921. In 1948, Debreu came to the United States on a Rockefeller Scholarship. In 1950, he began working at the Cowles Commission for Research in Economics at the University of Chicago. Early in 1962, he became a member of Berkeley's Economics faculty, and his Nobel Prize of 1983 was the first of a string of four Nobel Prizes won by Berkeley Economics professors. He retired in 1991, but he continued his teaching and research activities for several years. Debreu passed away in Paris on December 31, 2004.

Biographical Information

Gerard Debreu was born in Calais, France on July 4, 1921. As a young man he pursued studies in mathematics until 1944, when after D-day he enlisted in the French army. After briefly serving in the French occupational forces in Germany he resumed his studies and shifted his focus to Economics.

In 1948 Debreu came to the United States on a Rockefeller Scholarship. In 1950 he began working at the Cowles Commission for Research in Economics at the University of Chicago. He moved to Yale University from 1955 to 1959, then Stanford University's Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences in 1960 and 1961. Early in 1962 he became a member of Berkeley's Economics faculty, and his Nobel Prize of 1983 was the first of a string of four Nobel Prizes won by Berkeley Economics professors. He retired in 1991, but he continued his teaching and research activities for several years.

Debreu became an American citizen in 1975. He was also noted for his interest in human rights. He joined a fact-finding mission to Chile on behalf of the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Human Rights, which focused on scientists believed to be unlawfully detained, in 1985.

Debreu passed away in Paris on December 31, 2004