Israeli, US professors share Nobel Prize in economics

Professor Thomas C. Schelling of the University of Maryland made a speech in the university on Oct 10, 2005 after he learnt he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences.

Robert Aumann, professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and American Thomas C. Schelling have won the 2005 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences.

"I think game theory creates ideas that are important in solving and approaching conflict in general," Aumann, who holds a dual citizenship of Israel and America, told the award ceremony by telephone from Israel.

Asked whether it could help solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, he said "I do hope that perhaps some game theory can be used and be part of this solution."

Aumann and Schelling won the 1.3-million-dollar prize "for having enhanced our understanding of conflict and cooperation through game-theory analysis," the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said.

Aumann has not decided what to do with the prize money. "I am totally overwhelmed. I had absolutely no idea," he said.

Through their work, Aumann, 75, and Schelling, 84, have helped to "explain economic conflicts such as price wars and trade wars, as well as why some communities are more successful than others in managing common-pool resources," the academy said in its citation.

Aumann, who was born in Frankfurt, Germany, immigrated to New York with his family in 1938. He studied mathematics in New York and completed his undergraduate and graduate studies there.

He then went to MIT to write his doctoral dissertation and is now a professor at the Center for Rationality at the Hebrew University.

Last year two biochemistry professors from Technion University of Israel, Aaron Ciechanover and Avram Hershko, won the Nobel Prize in chemistry.

Two years ago, Daniel Kahneman, an American-born Israeli, won the Nobel Prize in Economics for his studies on decision-making in situations of uncertainty.

Source: Xinhua