— Ch. 1 · The Summer Job That Changed Economics —
Susan Athey.
~4 min read · Ch. 1 of 7
Susan Carleton Athey was born on the 29th of November 1970 in Boston, Massachusetts. She grew up in Rockville, Maryland with parents who worked as an English teacher and a physics scholar. Her undergraduate years at Duke University ended in 1991 after she completed three majors in economics, mathematics, and computer science. A specific summer job preparing bids for personal computers sold to the government sparked her career path. This work involved procurement auctions where companies competed to sell hardware to federal agencies. Bob Marshall, a professor at Duke University who studied defense procurement, hired her as a research assistant. She inherited his passion for auction research from that initial assignment. Leadership roles followed including treasurer of Chi Omega sorority and president of the field hockey club. Her doctoral dissertation supervised by Paul Milgrom and Donald John Roberts concluded in 1995.
A Career Spanning Three Universities
Her first professional position began as an assistant professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She taught there for six years before returning to Stanford's Department of Economics. At Stanford she held the Holbrook Working Chair for another five years. Then she served as a professor of economics at Harvard University until 2012. Finally she returned to the Stanford Graduate School Business as her alma mater and current employer. She holds the title of Economics of Technology Professor in the School of Humanities and Sciences. Her academic trajectory moved between these three institutions over several decades. The progression highlights her deep roots in both East Coast and West Coast economic thought.Collusion In Timber Auctions