Photo: Robert Scoble from Half Moon Bay, USA / CC BY 2.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
Michael Spence, born on November 7, 1943 in Montclair, New Jersey, United States, is an economist, university teacher and scientist. That puts Michael Spence at 82 years old in 2026. Schooling on record includes Magdalen College. Listed accolades include Guggenheim Fellowship, John Bates Clark Medal (1981), Harvard Centennial Medal and 5 more.
My Take
Michael Spence belongs to that rare tier of economists whose ideas quietly govern everyday life. His Nobel-winning work on market signaling explained why credentials like a college degree carry weight in a world of unequal information, an insight that still shapes hiring, lending, and admissions whether we notice it or not. A Rhodes Scholar, John Bates Clark Medalist, and Stanford dean, he combined raw theoretical firepower with genuine teaching commitment. What I admire most is the practicality buried inside the abstraction: he took a slippery problem, asymmetric information, and gave the rest of us a usable way to think about it. A genuinely consequential mind.
This take was written by generative AI, one per person, from publicly reported facts (editorial policy). It is a reading of the record, not reporting.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Michael Spence
- Name (Japanese)
- マイケル・スペンス
- Reading
- まいける・すぺんす
- Born
- November 7, 1943 (age 82)
- Origin
- Montclair, New Jersey, United States
- Occupation
- economist / university teacher / scientist / professor
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Scorpio / Goat
2. Background
- University
- Magdalen College
Awards & achievements
- Guggenheim Fellowship
- 1981 John Bates Clark Medal
- Harvard Centennial Medal
- 2001 Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel
- 1976 Fellow of the Econometric Society
- Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
- 1966 Rhodes Scholarship
- 2002 honorary doctorate at the Laval University
3. Links
4. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
Only publicly available facts are listed; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. Base data was compiled from Wikidata from June 2026 onward; ages are recalculated daily and deaths are checked against Wikidata on an ongoing basis. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.
Frequently asked questions
When was Michael Spence born?
Michael Spence was born on November 7, 1943 and is 82 years old.
Where is Michael Spence from?
Michael Spence is from Montclair, New Jersey, United States.
What does Michael Spence do?
Michael Spence works as economist, university teacher, scientist, professor.
Where did Michael Spence study?
Michael Spence attended Magdalen College.
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