death_date school_tradition color birth_date alma_mater death_place influenced influences image_size image repec_id name caption birth_place contributions awards field institution repec_prefix article_title birth_name
03 may 2014 chicago school of economics maroon 2 december 1930 princeton university university of chicago chicago , illinois , u.s. reuben gronau roland g. fryer , jr. . milton friedman h. gregg lewis theodore schultz 200px garybecker-may24-2008 . jpg pbe29 gary becker gary 2008 becker speaking in chicago , may 24 , pottsville , pennsylvania , u.s. analysis of human capital rotten kid theorem john prize in economic sciences -lrb- 1992 -rrb- pontifical academy of bates sciences -lrb- 1997 -rrb- national medal of science -lrb- 2000 clark -rrb- john von neumann award -lrb- 2004 -rrb- presidential medal medal of freedom -lrb- 2007 -rrb- -lrb- 1967 -rrb- nobel memorial social economics university university -lrb- 1957 -- 1968 -rrb- of chicago -lrb- 1968 -- 2014 -rrb- columbia e gary becker
 gary stanley becker
gary becker

gary stanley becker -lrb- december 2 , 1930 -- may 3 , 2014 -rrb- was an american economist .
he was professor of economics and sociology at the university of chicago and at the booth school of business .
he made important contributions to the family economics branch of economics .
neoclassical analysis of family within the family economics is also called new home economics .
he was awarded the nobel memorial prize in economic sciences in 1992 and received the united states presidential medal of freedom in 2007 .
he was a rose-marie and jack r. anderson senior fellow at the conservative hoover institution , located at stanford university .
becker was one of the first economists to branch into what were traditionally considered topics belonging to sociology , including racial discrimination , crime , family organization , and drug addiction -lrb- see rational addiction -rrb- .
he was known for arguing that many different types of human behavior can be seen as rational and utility maximizing .
his approach included altruistic behavior of human behavior by defining individuals ' utility appropriately .
he was also among the foremost exponents of the study of human capital .
becker was also credited with the `` rotten kid theorem . ''
