Robert W. Rosenthal was an American economist, most known for his contributions to game theory

Game theory

Game theory is a mathematical method for analyzing calculated circumstances, such as in games, where a person’s success is based upon the choices of others...

.

He obtained a B.A.

Bachelor of Arts

A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...

 in political economy

Political economy

Political economy originally was the term for studying production, buying, and selling, and their relations with law, custom, and government, as well as with the distribution of national income and wealth, including through the budget process. Political economy originated in moral philosophy...

 from Johns Hopkins University

Johns Hopkins University

The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...

 (1966),
M.S.

Master of Science

A Master of Science is a postgraduate academic master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is typically studied for in the sciences including the social sciences.-Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay:...

  (1968) and
Ph.D.

Ph.D.

A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...

 (1971) in operations research

Operations research

Operations research is an interdisciplinary mathematical science that focuses on the effective use of technology by organizations...

 from Stanford University

Stanford University

The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...

,
advised by Robert B. Wilson

Robert B. Wilson

Robert Butler "Bob" Wilson, Jr. is an American economist and the Adams Distinguished Professor of Management, Emeritus at Stanford University. He is known for his contributions to management science and business economics. His doctoral thesis introduced sequential quadratic programming, which...

.
He worked as assistant professor in the department of Industrial Engineering and
management science at
Northwestern University

Northwestern University

Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....

 (1970-76), was member of the technical staff at
Bell Labs

Bell Labs

Bell Laboratories is the research and development subsidiary of the French-owned Alcatel-Lucent and previously of the American Telephone & Telegraph Company , half-owned through its Western Electric manufacturing subsidiary.Bell Laboratories operates its...

 (1976-83),
was professor

Professor

A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...

 of economics at
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, popularly known as Virginia Tech , is a public land-grant university with the main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia with other research and educational centers throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States, and internationally.Founded in...

 (1983-84),
State University of New York at Stony Brook

State University of New York at Stony Brook

The State University of New York at Stony Brook, also known as Stony Brook University, is a public research university located in Stony Brook, New York, on the North Shore of Long Island, about east of Manhattan....

 (1984-87) and
Boston University

Boston University

Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...

 where worked until his death from a heart attack (1987-2002). He also
had appointments with Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...

 (2000), Harvard University

Harvard University

Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

 (1993), and Catholic University of Louvain (1973).
He held a Fulbright chair in economics at University of Siena

University of Siena

The University of Siena in Siena, Tuscany is one of the oldest and first publicly funded universities in Italy. Originally called Studium Senese, the University of Siena was founded in 1240. The University has around 20,000 students, nearly half of Siena's total population of around 54,000...

 (2001).

He authored many journal articles, and defined the revelation principle

Revelation principle

The revelation principle of economics can be stated as, "To any Bayesian Nash equilibrium of a game of incomplete information, there exists a payoff-equivalent revelation mechanism that has an equilibrium where the players truthfully report their types."...

 and random matching, as applied in works
with Henry Landau

Henry Landau

Henry Jacob Landau is an American mathematician, known forhis contributions to information theory, in particular to the theory of bandlimited functions and on moment issues.He received an A.B. , A.M. and Ph.D...

. Also, he was associate editor of Games and Economic Behavior

Games and Economic Behavior

Games and Economic Behavior is a journal of game theory published by Elsevier. Founded in 1989, the journal's stated objective is to communicate game-theoretic ideas across theory and applications...

 (1988-2002), Journal of Economic Theory

Journal of Economic Theory

The Journal of Economic Theory, often referred to as JET, is an important scholarly journal in the field of economics. Although the journal was originally intended as a specialty journal in mathematical economics, JET is now generally regarded as the leading journal in economic theory and one of...

 (1999–2002),
Mathematics of Operations Research

Mathematics of Operations Research

Mathematics of Operations Research is a scholarly journal published since 1976. The founding editor was Arthur F. Veinott, Jr. of Stanford University, who served as editor-in-chief 1976-1980. MOR is published quarterly by INFORMS and indexed by Journal Citation Reports...

 (1981-88) and Operations Research: A Journal of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences

Operations Research: A Journal of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences

Operations Research was founded after World War II by the Operations Research Society of America , which became part of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Science . The refereed journal includes studies related to linear programming, optimization, revenue management, and the...

(1978-82).