About Tapan Mitra
Tapan Mitra, the Goldwin Smith Professor of Economics at Cornell University, received his MA (1973) and PhD (1975) in Economics from the University of Rochester. Dr. Mitra received his undergraduate and master’s degrees in India and elected to continue his graduate training at Rochester, under the tutelage of Professor Lionel McKenzie.
While at Rochester, Dr. Mitra specialized on theories of economic growth, but also had the opportunity to take classes with and learn from Professor Ronald W. Jones. It was only later, when he began his research career at Cornell, that Mitra’s attention turned to International Economics, a field in which Jones had made seminal contributions. Jones and Mitra collaborated on a number of papers and Dr. Mitra attributes the encouragement and support that Ron Jones offered to be instrumental in the development of his academic career.
In Dr. Mitra’s own words, “My debt to the University of Rochester is enormous, and I have always wanted to give back, in some small way to my alma mater. For me, there is no better way of doing it than to honor my teachers, Lionel and Ron, and to encourage economics graduate students to pursue academic excellence.”