Three UChicago alumni earned front-page honors this year: a Nobel Prize, a MacArthur Fellowship, and a Pulitzer Prize. Congratulations to these innovative scholars and artists. View the University’s full list of major accolades.

1. Paul Romer, SB’77, PhD’83

Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel

Romer, who teaches at New York University, shared the prize with Yale’s William Nordhaus. Romer’s work to integrate technological innovations into macroeconomic analysis, said the Nobel press release, “has generated vast amounts of new research into the regulations and policies that encourage new ideas and long-term prosperity.”

2. Rebecca Sandefur, AM’97, PhD’01

MacArthur Foundation Fellowship

In awarding the $625,000 fellowship grant to Sandefur, the foundation cited the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign sociologist’s work to understand access to civil justice and how to make it more accessible to low-income populations. Her research is providing empirical evidence that can undergird reform.

3. Martyna Majok, AB’07

Pulitzer Prize for Drama

Majok’s play Cost of Living was recognized with the prize in April 2018. The Pulitzer board noted the “honesty and originality” of the play’s exploration of two complex relationships: between a recently paralyzed woman and her unemployed ex-husband, and between a graduate student with cerebral palsy and the woman who is his caregiver.