Two Nobel prizewinning economists are moving to Europe from an elite US university, becoming the latest academics to leave the country during Donald Trump’s second term.?
Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee, a married couple, were awarded the Nobel in Economics for their “experimental approach to alleviating global poverty”, alongside economist Michael Kremer, in 2019.
The high-profile academics?are?leaving full-time posts at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to take up endowed professorship positions at the University of Zurich (UZH) in July 2026 in a significant coup for the Swiss institution. They will retain part-time positions at MIT.
They have joined a growing number of senior scholars leaving the US higher education system as it faces unprecedented strain under the Trump administration.
The news comes just days after Mark Bray, a history professor at Rutgers University, for his work writing about the anti-fascist movement in the US.
糖心Vlog to 26,000 students, UZH is the largest university in Switzerland and a member of the prestigious League of European Research Universities.
Duflo and Banerjee will establish and co-lead the new Lemann Center for Development, Education and Public Policy in UZH’s Department of Economics, which aims to foster policy-relevant research and create new higher education pathways in policy evaluation and development.
UZH president Michael Schaepman described them as “two of the world’s most influential economists”, who combine scientific theory with social impact in their research.
“Their presence will strengthen the values and the international visibility of our university.”
Florian Scheuer, who heads the Department of Economics, said their hiring represented a “true quantum leap” for the department.
“Beyond their groundbreaking research, they are equally renowned for their extraordinary commitment to nurturing students and faculty and to institution-building.”
The new centre was made possible following a CHF 26 million (?24 million) donation from the Brazilian non-profit the Lemann Foundation.
Duflo, only the second woman and the youngest ever person to win a Nobel Prize in economics, said it would enable them to build on and expand their work, which bridges academic research, student mentorship and real-world policy impact.
“We have no doubt that the University of Zurich will be an excellent environment for us to pursue our research and policy work in the years to come,” added Banerjee.
Duflo and Banerjee will continue to co-lead J-PAL, the worldwide network of economic researchers that they co-founded. Duflo will also resume teaching at the Collège de France in Paris, where she is chair of poverty and public policy.
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