Economics Thesis Prize Winners

The Economics Department sends our heartfelt congratulations to our Class of 2026 graduating economics seniors! It has been a joy and honor to have you in the Department, and we are glad you chose to concentrate in economics. We wish you all a very happy graduation and best of luck in the years ahead.

We would also like to congratulate some of our thesis writers who have received awards.

Each year the Economics Department awards four prizes to graduating economics thesis writers. Congratulations to this year's winners!

• Yafan Wang received the John H. Williams Prize, awarded to the honors senior graduating with the best overall record in economics. Her thesis was titled, "From Diversion to Division: U.S. Tariffs and the Rewiring of Global Trade in 2025" advised by Gita Gopinath.
• Christopher Ruaño was awarded the Seymour E. and Ruth B. Harris Prize for his outstanding thesis, “Illuminating the Invisible Fleet: Satellite Measurement of Dark Fishing and Its Economic Consequences” advised by Andrei Shleifer. Chris was also a recipient of the Banga Social Innovation Thesis Awards from the Center for Public Service.
• Julien Berman was awarded the Allyn A. Young Prize for his outstanding thesis, “The Market for Information” advised by Jesse Shapiro.
• Jessica Liu was awarded the Morris Kronfeld Prize for demonstrating exceptional academic growth during her college years and for excellence in her thesis, “Watt Do You Mean Higher Bills? Data Centers and Their Impact on Retail Electricity Prices in the United States” advised by Andrés Maggi. 

Congratulations to Jessica Jenkins on being awarded the Captain Jonathan Fay Prize for her thesis "Colonial Land Expropriation and the Modern Geography of Opportunity in Aotearoa New Zealand" advised by Andrei Shleifer. 

Congratulations to Bona Yoo on being awarded the John T. Dunlop Undergraduate Thesis Prize for her thesis, "Disturbing Facts and Ominous Danger Signals: A Modern-Day Revisitation of Triffin’s Paradox Through Global Dollar Reserve Demand and US External Deficits" advised by Kenneth Rogoff.

Finally, we heartily applaud our six economics thesis writers that received the 2026 Thomas Temple Hoopes Prize. Congratulations to Julien Berman, Hans Elasri, Jessica Jenkins, Katie Lu, Christopher Ruaño, and Benjamin Scott. 

Some of our thesis prize winners pictured (left to right): Jessica Liu, Julien Berman, Yafan Wang, Christopher Ruano, Katie Lu, Jessica Jenkins, Hans Elasri.