Named Chairs of the Department

Professor Tim BESLEY

W. Arthur Lewis Professor of Development Economics

The William Arthur Lewis Chair was created by LSE in 2015 to mark the centenary of the Nobel Prize winner's birth. Sir Arthur Lewis (1915-1991) was a student at LSE from 1934-37 and a member of staff from 1938-48, making him the UK’s first black professor. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Economics in 1979 for “pioneering research into economic development research with particular consideration of the problems of developing countries". Professor Tim Besley is the inaugural holder of the William Arthur Lewis Chair.

LSE News and Media

LSE Department of Economics News

Professor Francesco CASELLI

Norman Sosnow Professor of Economics

The Norman Sosnow Chair was established in 1985 by journalist and businessman Eric Sosnow in memory of his son Norman, who died in an air crash in 1967 at the age of 23. Eric Sosnow, a graduate research student at LSE in 1936, and later a governor and honorary fellow of the School, also established travelling scholarships in his son’s name. The Norman Sosnow Chair was formerly held by Charles Goodhart and Sir Christopher Pissarides.

LSE News and Media

LSE Department of Economics News

 Professor Sir Christopher PISSARIDES

Regius Professor of Economics

The Regius Professorship in Economics was bestowed upon the LSE in 2013 by HM The Queen on the occasion of her Diamond Jubilee, in recognition of the LSE Department of Economics' "exceptionally high level of achievement in both teaching and research". It was both the first Regius Professorship to have been awarded to the LSE, and the first to have been awarded in the field of economics. The Economics Department voted unanimously to nominate Sir Christopher Pissarides as the first holder of the Regius chair.

LSE News and Media

LSE Department of Economics News

Professor Peter ROBINSON

Tooke Professor of Economic Science and Statistics

Endowed by public subscription, the Tooke Chair was founded in 1859 at Kings College London, in memory of Thomas Tooke, businessman, economist, free trade campaigner, and founder member of the Political Economy Club.  In 1919 the Tooke Chair was transferred from Kings College to the LSE, but was left vacant until 1931, when it was taken up by Friedrich von Hayek, newly-arrived from Vienna. Other LSE Economics Department faculty who have held the Tooke Chair include William (“Bill”) Phillips (1958-1967), Denis Sargan (1982-1984), and Peter Robinson (1995-present).

STICERD Discussion Paper (EM/02/437): "Denis Sargan: Some Perspectives" by Peter Robinson

 Professor John SUTTON

Sir John Hicks Professor of Economics

Sir John Hicks received the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences (jointly) in 1972 for his pioneering contribution to general economic equilibrium theory, and welfare theory; he donated his Nobel Prize to the School’s Library Appeal in 1973. He taught at LSE from 1926 to 1935, and his most well-known work is Value and Capital, written while he was at LSE and published in 1939. Previous holders of the Chair include Professor Lord Stern (1989-93) and Professor Michio Morishima (1982-1988). 

Britannica: Sir John R Hicks